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That's very interesting! The blue one was spotted just a day before the green. However, there were several on the same plant. I'll be sure to monitor them more closely this year.

This is some variety of barberry. Berberis sp. Here's a list of popular ones: http://www.backyard-landscape-ideas.com/... and my own: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/609...

I take it back. The second suggestion is right.

I think this is a ponderosa pine. Pinus ponderosa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_ponde.... The photo on the wikipedia page doesn't match very closely, but there are better matches on google images.

I think it's a wolf spider. Their babies will live on their mother's back for the first few weeks after they hatch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axDpsLPhY...

This is really cool.

Alice, you were right about that. I thought monarchs were the only caterpillars that laid eggs and dined on milkweed. Learned something today.

The stem is very much like a chive, but when you dig a nail into one of these things, it's like a starfruit.

Thanks for the tip! The daily misting was actually the routine for a while and then we got really lazy about it. However, they hang directly above the kitchen sink, and I think they've definitely benefited from the steamy dish water. I'm going to get back into the misting routine and give the fertilized water a try for sure.

It's possible we'll try for honey next year, but for now we're concentrating on building a strong colony. To observe them working is sweet enough for now.