It's easy to find Stropharia [AKA Wine Cap or King Stropharia] spawn on the net from places like Magnificent Mushrooms in Paoli, Indiana so I availed myself of the opportunity and got a bunch.
It's not cheap. I got 4 bags and spent around $100 including shipping but bees are even more expensive than that, so I figured that if this stuff helped save just one hive, then it was worth it.
Plus, these are edible.
Plus, it's fun to try out new stuff.
Plus, it was a great use of the mountain of wood chips we had from taking down some trees in January.
So I got the spawn and planted/spread it exactly like they recommended under an apple tree and behind the chicken coop and then watered it for a few weeks, then neglected it.
And lo and behold a forest of mushrooms was discovered under the apple tree
last week!
We have been so busy that we missed the first flush, but we were able to pick a couple gallons of them even so. They are delicious!
We have not seen any bees on them yet this year, but I plan on spreading them around and eventually the bees will find them. In the meantime, we love them.
