Swarming Bees!!

Here I thought I was so cool yesterday, seeing a young Red Tail Hawk getting chased and pestered by a blackbird whilst working on the other side of the tunnel...  Wow, so much more interface with nature out here, I thought.  Then I got the phone call from my neighbor in Oakland- a swarm of honeybees had found themselves in her front yard.  (!!!)  I dashed home to witness the spectacle and sure enough, bigger and swarmier than I could ever have imagined. 
She found a beekeeper online that specialized in swarms and we prepared ourselves for an experience.

First he trimmed the vine to gain better access to the bees.  Apparently, this is the season for bees to swarm.  Basically, a new queen is born and the hive ain't big enough for the both of 'em.  The queen searches for a new home and her loyal subjects follow her and help keep her safe until the new location has been selected.  While Eileen and I thought it looked like the most gigantic colony ever, our new beekeeping friend said it was of average size.  Oh...

Next came a spritz or two of water to dampen the bees' wings to keep them from flying and to help them stick together a bit.  Then, into the box!  The swarm didn't quite get in there all in one shot, so he left the box for a few hours to give them all a chance to make their way inside.

I'm so happy to know that this beekeeper cares for his hives without the use of chemicals, like mite sprays.  Happy bees in their happy new home. How exciting- I was talking in exclamation points all evening! 

Our next natural order of operations included walking across the street into the liquor store to get all the background information on the swarm from Muhammad, the eyes and ears of Idora Park.  Talk about interface with nature!  There's a swarm of bees right next to the bus stop!  Yet another reason why I love Oakland.

A big, huge thanks is in order to Eileen, who graciously shared the experience with me.  Coolest ever!

I'm wondering if the way Steven, the beekeeper, captured the bees was the same way any other beekeeper would.  So much to learn!  Does anyone have swarming experience to share?

Oakland History Lecture: Greetings from Idora Park!

A couple of weeks ago, the Oakland Heritage Alliance gave a lecture and slide show (with a real slide projector!) about Idora Park.  For those who don't know, Idora Park is a small section in North Oakland where at the turn of a century, an amusement park gave hours of endless weekend entertainment.  When competing amusement parks choked out business, the site became an exclusive neighborhood of Storybook Style homes for the local Italian population.  Photos were taken from the alamedainfo site, which has quite an impressive collection!  Check it out!

I've done as much internet research as I could and have even spent an afternoon at the Oakland History Room, but Ray Raineri's energetic storytelling and an exhaustive set of postcard images shed some serious sunshine on what Idora Park once was.  Here's a few highlights:

-The entrance to the park was on Telegraph between 55th and 56th

-The rollercoaster sat along Shattuck Ave (maybe I'm living where the rollercoaster was!)  Notice that it wasn't a rollercoaster, but a scenic railway.
-Among the many rides, ostriches also had their own area.  The feathers were used to make hats.
-While parks today seem geared towards children, amusement parks of the Victorian era were marketed towards adults looking to spend their paychecks on a little fun

-A picture postcard of you and yours sitting in an automobile could be had for a hefty sum (5 cents?  10 cents?  Can't remember the exact amount)  Cars were still an unattainable rarity, but sending a postcard to a friend while looking smugly into the camera and clutching the wheel:  priceless.

-The park featured a swimming pool and since swimming hadn't become a popular pastime, unisex swimsuits could be rented out for the day.  I can't find photos online, but they are hilarious.
-Before the amusement park, the area was called Ayala Park and made for a lovely picnic spot on a sunny Sunday.   

-It's been rumored that the windmill currently in the front yard of a house on Telegraph was part of the original park, however it was once a lemonade stand and has proven difficult to move since it was constructed with cast iron!  If they can figure out how to transport it, I'd love to find it a home in the backyard!  It was its own thing, however and not part of Idora.

Can't wait to find the Sanborn maps and see what other mysteries I can discover!

Unearthing Idora Park

Today I celebrated a very local holiday known as "plant that Buckeye you got at the plant sale months ago" Day.  First annual.  I'm always jumping for an opportunity to dig around our yard because of its former life as an amusement park at the turn of the century.  Someday I just know I'll uncover the ferris wheel.  Embarrassingly, the backyard has not changed much since we moved in a year and a half ago, so to root around the back is pretty exciting for a kid like me who grew up watching Indiana Jones.

While unearthing myriad Oxalis bulbs, I also came upon random bands of red, grainy clay.  Embedded throughout were these red rocks.  Hmmm, could these be part of the building pictured above?  Were they used for landscaping?  I think another trip to Oakland's History Room will be in order soon enough.
Meanwhile, these specimens will grace the area around the freshly planted buckeye tree.