Cutter Bees

We've had several residents notice that "something" is eating their plants or trees and they're requesting information as to what is happening.  Damage looks like this photo:
 


This smooth semi circle is a result of the Leafcutter Bee.  Here's some information from a recent google search:


Leafcutter bees are important native insects of the western United States. They use cut leaf fragments to construct their nest cells. They often are essential pollinators of wild plants

Most common leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.) are approximately the size of the common honeybee, although they are somewhat darker with light bands on the abdomen. They also have different habits. Leafcutter bees are not aggressive and sting only when handled. Their sting is very mild, much less painful than that of honeybees or yellowjacket wasps.

Leafcutter bees are solitary bees, meaning that they don't produce colonies as do social insects (honeybees, yellowjackets, ants, etc.). Instead, individual female leafcutter bees do all the work of rearing. This includes digging out nesting areas, creating nest cells and providing their young with food. Adult females may live up to two months and lay some 35 to 40 eggs during this time.

Leafcutter bees nest in soft, rotted wood; thick-stemmed, pithy plants (e.g., rose); and in similar materials that the bees can easily cut through and excavate. Nest tunnels may extend several inches deep and coarse sawdust may be deposited at the entrance. This sometimes causes confusion with other wood nesting insects such as carpenter ants. However, leafcutter bees restrict their tunneling to soft, rotted wood and do not cause damage to homes or other wooden structures.

After the nest is made, the bees collect fragments of leaves to construct individual nest cells. The bees cut leaves in a distinctive manner, making a smooth semicircular cut about 3/4 inch in diameter from the edge of leaves.  This injury often is only a minor curiosity.

Leafcutter bees do not eat the cut pieces of leaves that they remove. Instead, they carry them back to the nest and use them to fashion nest cells within the previously constructed tunnels. Then they provision each leaf-lined cell with a mixture of nectar and pollen. The female lays an egg and seals the cell, producing a finished nest cell that somewhat resembles a cigar butt. A series of closely packed cells are produced in sequence. A finished nest tunnel may contain a dozen or more cells forming a tube 4 to 8 inches long. The young bees develop and remain within the cells, emerging the next season.

Insecticides are ineffective for preventing leaf cutting. The only known control of leaf injuries is to cover susceptible plants with cheesecloth or other loose netting during periods when leafcutter bees are most active.

Memorial Day Luncheon

We held a wonderful luncheon today to honor the men and women who served in our Armed Forces to protect our freedom.  Veterans and guests were abundantly fed!  It looks like MaryAnn Brown was on duty to guard the food from invaders......but she was really there to help serve us.  LOL


Those big delicious hamburgers were at the front of the line.....followed by table after table of wonderful side dishes and salads provided by residents.   Bob and Sharon Fahrenbruch were among the happy volunteers to serve our dinner.

We had over 150 residents for dinner!!!  I think it proves that folks are staying longer to enjoy the wonderful spring time weather.  I don't remember seeing this many people at an event so late in the year.

I took a bunch of pictures as folks mingled and waited in the food line.  You can scan through the photos to see if you spot any of your friends.  Remember:  if you click on any of these photos, it should open up in a slide show so you can get a better view of the pictures.

 

 
Gail Tollison and Linda Balzan were our greeters on stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Other News:  Tuesday

Work begins at the tennis courts as they take down the fences and get the four north courts ready for resurfacing.

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Do you remember the email I posted on May 25 from the lady requesting information about Palm Creek??  Look at the wonderful response sent by Kate Perrie. If I didn't already live here, I'd surely want to sign up.    Thank you, Kate, for writing such an informative letter.  

Lynn,

Hi!  I saw your request on the palmcreekupdate.blogspot.com website.  My name is Kate Perrie and I am the outgoing President of the tennis club.  As Penny Mason and Glenn Carter (who came to Palm Creek last year after staying at a park in Mesa for many years) were just voted in to replace me at the end of last season I thought it might be best for me to fill you in on the tennis club activities as they probably don’t have the handout on their computers as yet.  I have attached a copy of last season’s tennis club’s handout that covers most of the organized play.  Every day, Monday to Friday at 9:30 AM we have social tennis which is basically a drop in, round robin for all levels of play.   In addition to all of the organized play scheduled on the attached handout, last year we had tennis events every month including the annual Palm Creek Tennis Tournament, our Cancer Awareness Tournament and an evening social event at the end of the season with some of our best players putting on an exhibition combined with an extensive wine tasting and array of appetizers followed by dessert.  Next season, Palm Creek is going to be participating in a community wide tennis league where you can play ladies doubles, men’s doubles or mixed doubles offered in different skill levels and play against teams from other communities.  You can also get more of an idea about the tennis club at our website www.palmcreektennisclub.blogspot.com.  Scroll down and there are some photos of the wine tasting event we call “Saturday Night at the Courts.”  In addition, I can share with you that, without a doubt, we have a great group of fun loving, friendly people who all share a love of the game.  That is a quick summary.   If you have any specific questions about tennis or would like to get more detail about any of the aspects of the Palm Creek Tennis Club, please feel free to give me a call at 816-578-4131.

We also play quite a lot of golf.  The course at Palm Creek is one of, if not the best executive course we have ever played.  You can get a copy of the scorecard on the Palm Creek Website www.PalmCreekgolf.com.  I have a 16 ladies in a group that I organize and we play at Palm Creek every Wednesday afternoon.  We love the course and there are quite a few holes where even our best players do need to pull out a driver.   The local courses are all quite good.  I play most of my golf at San Miguel, but there is also Robson Ranch, Mission Royale and Francisco Grande nearby.  There are quite a few courses that are a bit farther away that are quite good.  Palm Creek organizes at their golf course-  a ladies golf league on Wednesday Mornings, a Men’s golf league on Monday mornings and an organized play on Tuesday and Friday where they schedule the foursome. 

There is a great hiking club and I have copied Connie Emerson (who also heads the tennis club ladies league) as she and her husband Skip are key players in the Palm Creek Hiking Club.  They have a scheduled hike every Friday with two routes – one a little easier and one a little harder. Connie can give you more details if you would like.

There is no biking club and sad to say there are really no bike trails in Casa Grande.  There are bike lanes on many of the roads.  This is one of the few things that Palm Creek does not have an organized group for.

If you have any questions or would just like to pick my brain, feel free to call me at 816-578-4131.

We have stayed at Voyager and it was a very nice park, but we absolutely love Palm Creek and have been spending 5-6 months every Winter season at Palm for the past 5 years.  We are full time RVers and without a doubt Palm Creek is the best value of the campgrounds we have stayed at in all of our years of RVing.

As to shuttle service.  There are shuttle services it depends on when you plan on arriving.  I know of two residents who do shuttle services.  One is Natalie Aarons who lives at Palm Creek full time and the other is Phil but I don’t think Phil starts until he arrives.  There is also the Casa Grande Airport Shuttle 520-251-8336 and a couple of others.  I think Natalie and Phil charge one flat rate regardless of the number of the people in the van.  I think it is about $60 each way – which is quite a good deal.  I don’t know if anyone has gotten back to you on shuttle service, but if you need more info – just let me know and I will get it for you.

Hope this helps,

Kate

I received this email from a reader today.  Anyone from the tennis or golf or hiking or biking programs care to write to the Reiter's and tell them about life here in Palm Creek?

Lynn/Dave Reiter

May 25th 2013
12:10:16 PM

Where are you from?

St. Louis, MO

Please enter your comments.

This is probably not the correct format for my PC questions, but thought maybe this blog could help. After 10 years, 6 month PM seasonals at the Voyager Resort, Tucson, we are thinking of moving to PC.
I would love to hear from someone who flies to and from PC regarding shuttles, also, from someone in the tennis program, the golf program, the hiking and cycling programs. We do know all about the wonderful Pickleball program.

Please feel free to email me at lynnreiter20@gmail.com as I'm sure this blog was not set up for this type of correspondence. Thanks a million! Love the PC Blog site!  Would love to help with the Blog when we move to beautiful Palm Creek.

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What do we do in the afternoons when the temperature reaches 100+ degrees?

Mahjong 

Hand and Foot 

or Pegs & Jokers

Outside the front desk doors, this magnolia tree is blooming just for us.

 Life is Good!!!

Palm Park News!

Here is the design for our new Palm Park.  So many of us thoroughly enjoyed the outings on the nice grassy park area this past season so plans are to expand this area and make it much more accessible for set up and more outdoor events.

 

The perimeter palms will remain but all those in the center of the park will be removed.  Some of the trees will be moved to the new construction area and others will be used as replacements for a few palms that have died.

 
Bricks have arrived to be used for building a stage on the north end of the park.

 
The band stand or stage will be 60 ft long and about 20 ft deep.  It can be accessed by a ramp on either side of the stage so it is easy to move equipment up and down rather than stairs.

 

 
We were lucky to spot Jim Dawson there this morning so he explained the layout to us.

 

 

Testing different paver colors.

 
The whole perimeter of the grassy area will be outlined with stone like this so it is easy to keep trimmed.  Then a special kind of gravel will be put on the pathways to make it level with the stone.

 

 
There will be plenty of electrical connections so alleviate all those pesky extension cords running across the parking lot.  This area at the south end of the park will be all covered with pavers making a nice area for the food stands and concessions.

 
It will be fascinating to watch how all those trees get moved and the pavers put in place.  I think I'll bring a lawn chair, umbrella, and a cold drink so I can just sit and watch all the action!

The model home has been moved from the street of dreams over to it's new resting spot.

 

The house we've seen out in the storage area will soon be in its new home at Site 1111.
(NO.....this is not the house that was damaged a couple years back.  That was removed long ago.)

 
Pickle players were on the courts again this morning.

 
Progress continues on the dog park.

 
Thought you would like to see a close up of this map displayed in the sales office.  Red dots mark the sites that are already sold in the new section.  I like the street names in this area.

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Dust Devil Attack!  It was a typical lovely afternoon.  Not even a heavy wind.....but out of nowhere the mysterious Arizona dust devils suddenly spring up.  One came across the field by the pickleball courts and went across Site 30 over there in the corner.  As it passed by them, it pushed up their awning and made a big bulge in it.  Skip and Connie Emerson were home at the time and heard the big whoosh as the devil went through.  No rain.  No clouds in the sky.  No warning of any kind.  Just good old Arizona desert mystery.