Roux Pecans Orchard full of flowers in spring

In spring and at the time of bud break in our orchard at Ramah there is a flush of flowers. Honey bees are everywhere. Care must be taken as these are African Honey Bees. Generally called Killer Bees outside of Africa. At this time of year they can be particularly aggressive as they have used up their supply of food over the winter and are hard at work refilling the larder!!

The blue flowers are "Forget-Me-Not" and the white is Clover.

Every so often the numbers of animals on Ramah need to be reduced to maintain the viability of the different species relative to the environment.
The preferred method of reducing the numbers is to capture the excess number and relocate them to other land owners to supplement their stock and genetic diversity.

We have used the company Wildlife Translocation Services for many years. This is a series of pictures showing the helicopter (pilot John Blythe-Wood) attempting to steer Southern Cape Mountain Reedbuck into nets. The truck they will be loaded into is parked nearby and the pecan orchard can be seen in the background.
The third photo is of the buck being carried out of the hills sedated and blindfolded.
A successful day.

The Beginning of Roux Pecans Crop of 2008

This is a view of the orchard today. In the foreground Clover legume is in full flower. Clover is an integral part of the orchard fertilization program.

The trees are just breaking bud and the flowers are appearing.

Pecan trees are dicotymous and they have a green pollen shedding tassle. They are not attractive to insects and bees therefore pollination is effected by the wind.

This year the volume of flowers looks particularly good. It is the first step to a good crop at the end of our summer in April 2008