Eden

I have long wanted to visit the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, spring seemed the best time to view gardens so a visit was planned. Tim Smit has been instrumental in developing both these gardens. It is ten years since Eden opened and our first visit- obviously much has changed but the philosophy remains the same- education about the planet and the impact we are having with the way we live our lives.

The biomes are impressive- no doubt- it was interesting to see how some of the everyday products we take for granted are grown and how they impact on the earth. It made me think even more about what we grow at home and how that can be made not only sustainable but more effective in our use of space and the plants we grow. Radio's 4 Food Programme recently talked about the Forest Garden, growing more perennial plants that we can eat, how they are more likely to withstand extremes of weather as the climates changes. Rob on his blog http://sustainablegarden.blogspot.com/  recently referred  to how this principle is close to his heart as he developes his new site with his family. Definately a programme worth listening to and giving consideration to when planning for the future.


Cashews



Viewing Platform



Is That a Swarm in That Tree?

After a lovely break in Cornwall, confident that the bees should be fine, it was great to come back and see how things had progressed in the garden and allotment. I had thought of the posts I could write about the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project ( and these will be written!). Sunday was a day to catch up with those jobs that always need doing when you have been away- including checking the bees at Waxwings but the others needed leaving a bit longer to give the new queen time to hatch and mate.
During the afternoon I decided to do some tidying up in the garden- around 5.30 my back started to complain so I began to tidy up. Mmm, quite a few bees round the pond I thought and looked up into the Viburnam that hangs over the water. There, fairly high up in the bush was a lovely, calm swarm of bees just hanging there- the odd one flying out and back. Were they ours? Probably, I had thought the hive didn't seem quite right but we had been VERY careful about only leaving one good queen cell. Had they tried to make an emergency queen cell from a larva that was too old? One thing I have learnt from these bees- they like to swarm, whatever I do!
So, feeling a sense of responsibilty and wondering just how long they had been there- out came the nappy box and white sheet again- a branch loped off and the swarm collected. The only problem, no more equipment, I had ordered nucleus boxes before we went away for just this eventuality but had been let down. After a phone call on Saturday I had been promised delivery on Wednesday, not much good now with a swarm to find a home for. The only thing available was a travelling box made of Correlex, luckily I had got 5 brood frames to put in it, so that was it.
The bees took a while to get in the box, so I had time to make up the frames and we got ready to take them straight up to Waxwings. Hopefully the neighbours up there were not too concerned that as it was just starting to get dark 2 people dressed in full beekeeping gear were wandering around. The travelling box was surrounded by bricks to keep it secure and the bees shaken in- alot of them didn't make it, so we fashioned a little ramp out of wood and shook them onto that and left them walking up. After about half a hour they were all more or less settled. We left them to it- today it is cool and raining, so maybe they will stay for a bit rather than get wet, we will just have to wait and see- hopefully those wooden nucs will arrive in time for them to make a home for another colony of our swarmed bees !

It was a lovely evening, there were bats flying around as we left Waxwings, but at 10 o'clock on a Sunday night we were wondering- what had we done before bees?!

Makeshift ramp and home for bees!



Rainy Monday and they're still there!!



Garden Orchids

In common with the rest of my family I like to grow orchids- both more exotic ones in the house and hardy ones in the garden. This year I wasn't sure how they would respond after having been moved and disturbed during our garden redesign. But they don't seem to have been too badly affected, although the dry weather is probably having an effect which may reveal itself as the year progresses.

The Trilliums in the garden have also done well despite the transplanting- I particularly like the way this Grandiflora changes to a dark pink before it fades away.

Waxwings Apiary

Time to check out the nucleus colony at Waxwings- last time we looked things were promising. Well today it looked just as we had hoped. With an interested audience the inspection went brilliantly. The bees were calm, the frames were how the books say they show be- honey arch, pollen and both capped and uncapped brood- all looking healthy and thriving. There were eggs on two frames and two others were being drawn. Our only concern last time was the bad weather and if there would be enough forage for the next week, but the bees looked busy enough and weather looks ok for foraging, so here's hoping this little colony goes from strength to strength!
( The only thing we forgot was to take any pics! Next time we will remember!!)

Newark Hive

Five days after the inspection that left us having to remove Birgit from the hive it was time to check that the bees had not started to build emergency queen cups from the eggs that Birgit had laid. Well I have to say that this is something my bees are good at- queen cups all over the frames that had been left with egg in them. I very carefully inspected the marked frame and the cell I had left was there safe and sound. I checked there were no more on that frame and put it back. All the other frames got a very careful inspection, most had the bees shaken off. These are still very good natured bees- some brood was hatching so I was as quick and careful as possible- but some of these new bees were obviously a little puzzled by such a turbulent welcome to the world! Nevertheless they settled quickly and hopefully when a new queen hatches they will prosper. Watch this space............

Waxwings Apiary

The new hive at Waxwings (Frome Hive) is home to our virgin queen cast. They have been in residence for just over 3 weeks now. Last time we  had a quick look there were polished cells ready for eggs, but we didn't see the queen or eggs. Yesterday however there were eggs and very small larvae. We didn't stay in the hive long- the weather was not brilliant and we didn't want to disturb them too much- so we only checked there were enough stores and room until next time and then left them to it!

Supersedure

Thursday afternoon - time to check out the hives at home. The Newark hive with our blue queen seemed to have settled down to raising brood but had no apparent inclination to make honey. Expecting a fairly routine inspection I was surprised to find queen cups- lots of them and 2 sealed! There were plenty of bees- they hadn't swarmed as you might expect if sealed queen cups are present- and there fairly easy to spot was the queen. Not sure what to do we quickly caught her in a match box and put her safely on one side while we considered what to do. It seemed obvious they were no longer happy with her and were trying to replace her- a process known as supersedure. So very carefully we went through the hive and selected a good queen cell to leave and knocked out all the others. In a few days we will repeat this to make sure they have not tried to make an emergency queen cell from some of the young eggs. The bees were remarkably good natured with us considering we were really having a good look at them. But when we put the hive back together lots of bees came out and hung on the outside of the hive as if to show they didn't quite appreciate the attention they had been given!

The bees eventually started to trickle back into the hive and by evening they were all back in. The next day they were going in and out as they had been previously. We can now only hope that the queen cell we left hatches and does her stuff. I am now really beginning to consider how different strains of bee exhibit different characteristics. Other bees make and store honey- mine just want to reproduce! As for Birgit, I'm afraid she was humanely dispatched, I'm not ashamed to say with a tear in the eye- I had become quite attached to her, but her time had come!

                                                         

Black Pollen

                                                                                     
I read a lot about bees and their habits. One of the things I find interesting is finding out what kind of plants the bees have been visiting. This time of year abundant plants are oil seed rape, hawthorn and dandelion to name a few. One of the plants I read the bees love are poppies- in the garden only a few feet away from the hives we have a beautiful clump of big, bright poppies. They only last a couple of days before the petals begin to blow away. Today while watching the hive the bees showed in this case the books are right - at one time there were 3 bees in this flower,all covered in dusty black pollen.

Spring Forage

The unseasonal weather has meant a strange spring on the allotment - things have come on much earlier than usual we have been able to get things planted early. However, last week the weather had a surprise in the form of an overnight frost. The tips of the potatoes were knocked back, luckily Trev had put some fleece over them so that was the only damage. We are still able to cut leeks, asparagus and new this year and a real star- white sprouting broccolli, a heritage variety that we thought had been lost by the bad weather over winter, it has begun cropping like mad and is delicious! It has been steamed, stir fried and cooked in quiche with Shropshire blue cheese. Today there was so much I am going to freeze some rather than let it go to flower on the plant.

Queen or No Queen?

The advice is to leave a newly hived swarm of bees for at least 14 days before inspecting them so today we decided to do a quick look to see if they needed anything. The Waxwings Apiary is some distance from home so being prepared for any eventuality we packed syrup, feeders, supers etc. and off we went. The hive looked busy, but Jill and Rob had said that during the week there hadn't been much pollen going in- a sure sign of brood- so we weren't sure what we would find.
Gently the lid was lifted and crown board removed. The bees had been busy, 5 frames were drawn in addition to the 2 frames we had given them originally, there were stores of pollen and nectar and cells had been 'polished' ready for eggs to be laid in them. However, disappointingly, there were no eggs and we didn't see the queen at all. The bees were calm, not at all bothered about the minor intrusion, when we put back the lid there was no change in their behaviour. So, a bit of a puzzle really, the bees are acting as if a queen is there it's just there is no evidence apart from those polished cells and well behaved, calm bees.