I'm still trying to come up with a workable self-watering system for the bee garden. Challenges include the raised beds already being built, and not for self-watering; lack of a pressurized water source; and the project budget being approximately $0. I did some looking around at stuff on the web, but what I found was mostly pot-over-a-bucket stuff that would require rebuilding the beds. There was one discussion of a drip system but it required a faucet and assumed you were building it in a yard. So, pretty much left to my own ingenuity, I'm back to thinking about some kind of dripping bottles, or maybe bottles with wicks, dotted about among the plants. But would a 2-liter bottle last all weekend in hot weather? Especially if I cut the end off to make filling it easier?
On a more positive note, I found some small boards (in a dumpster, yay dumpster-diving) that should work to shelter the external combs on the east hive. They'll have to be joined end-to-end in pairs, trimmed to fit the slope of the roof, and tied down somehow -- still haven't worked out how to do that part -- but if they don't keep enough rain off I can try covering them with garbage bags or a piece of drop cloth, and anyway, it'll be better than the nothing that's there now. Or maybe the combs have already gotten too wet and the point is moot, I'll find out Monday.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
