February

Busy times since my last post-I have been working most of the time, we have been on holiday, visited family and celebrated the 1st birthday of Rowan!

The Alhambra

One of the places we have always wanted to visit is Andalucia in Spain, the history of the Reconquest is fascinating and the resulting architecture of moorish and Christian styles amazing to see. We visited Granada, Seville and Cordoba this February thinking it would be a warm getaway. But no, it was freezing! However the cities were well worth visiting and we really enjoyed the break.

Mosque in Cordoba

 On the way back we dropped in to Portsmouth to see our children and Grandchildren. It was Rowan's first birthday-it's hard to think it has been a year since we drove down to see him new born!!
Luckily Rob and Jill have been keeping an eye on the bees while we have been away http://sustainablegarden.blogspot.com
The mild spell has seen lots of activity, today the garden hive was taking in lots of pollen- mainly pale but some darker yellow and orange. We lifted the lid quickly and the 2 kilo block of fondant we had put on before we left was well on the way to being finished and the hive looked as if it was thriving!

Alan's Bees

Two of the many people we have met while at the Cordwood site were Alan and Lynne. Many people are interested in bees, but not many of them have abandoned bee hives and bees over the fence at  the bottom of their garden. After talking to them about the activity of the bees, it was intriguing to go and have a look to see what could actually be happening. Alan had said the hives had been abandoned for quite a few years, so it is unlikely that bees would just stay in old hives. They would be likely to move on as the space became filled. So, fighting off the brambles that had overgrown the hives we could see that they were stacked neatly up against the fence, very close together and covered carefully by a tarpaulin.

Not the way a beekeeper would arrange hives that they were working with. Alan had told us that on good days he could hear and see lots of bees going in to the hives, but because of the covers he wasn't sure where exactly they were going. It was a cool day, not really a day that we would expect bees to be out and about, nevertheless we did see a couple of bees as we lifted the covering to get a better look. There were what appeared to be 3 hives pushed right up to the fence.

 It was possible to get at the middle one, so Trev lifted off the roof carefully and peered in. There was a super with frames and foundation- badly eaten away, probably by wax moth, but no bees! Lifting this off there was a feeder and two floors stacked up together. Looking closely at the others it was clear that these were parts of commercial hives that had been stacked unused and covered to keep them safe. They were in very good condition,considering!  We could see two of the "hives" were empty but the end one must have been where the bees were living. It seemed to be two brood boxes stacked up with no obvious entrance- the bees must have swarmed into it through a gap somewhere at the back where we couldn't see. We put everything back as we had found it and left the bees alone. Hopefully we can get a local beekeeper to go and help sort out the equipment and bees as the spring gets warmer and the bees become more active. Alan is interested in having someone keep bees in his garden and maybe getting to know more about looking after them. The main problem to sorting things out is to find out who has left the hives!

Congratulations Judith and Roger!

Last Saturday Judith and Roger got married - hopefully soon they will see work commencing on their new house on the Cordwood site. We were lucky enough to join them for an fantastic evening of bacon butties and dancing to the Fab Four!
The wedding had a Cordwood theme- as part of this they gave favours made  from produce from the Cordwood site- Jam from apples and blackberries, chutney from the wild plums and honey from the Cordwood apiary!

Congratulations and best wishes to them both!!

Apiary Improvements

Looking forward to the spring and possible swarm control measures we decided we needed to clear and prepare ground around the hives at Cordwood to enable us to act decisively if the need arose. In theory new queens are less likely to swarm in their first full year if they are given the right conditions in the hive. All our queens were new queens last year!
Last year was unusual in that many bee keepers found their colonies acting strangely. This year we aim to be ready for (nearly) anything. We have ordered plenty of equipment and clearing space to perform artificial swarms seems a logical step.
So this week (while I have been at work) Trev, with help from Rob, has been hard at work clearing, levelling and cutting down! It is amazing how much space has been created by cutting back the hedge on site; he has done a grand job!

What we could do with now is an easy and light stand for bee hives so they can be moved quickly. One bee keeper I know uses old milk crates- ideal to quickly level and place a hive on for an artificial swarm. Our task now is to try and find a legitimate source of used but serviceable crates.

The Fondant Fairy Visits!!

After the last bee-keeper's meeting, we began to feel we should look at giving the bees a bit of a New Year treat. Many people had expressed their concern about the activity of the bees recently and that the stores would be being used up more quickly than if the weather had stayed as cold as last year. The general consensus is that if the bees do not need the extra food they will not take it. So, as we had plenty of fondant ready we decided the time was about right to put on the fondant if we were going to.
We prepared trays with about a kilo of fondant in them, removed the roof and placed the fondant over the hole in the crown board. All in all it took a few seconds- enough time to have a quick peak but hopefully not to disturb the bees too much.

In the garden hive we could see quite a few bees between the frames- these bees have been quite active on good days. At Cordwood there were not many bees to be seen but I could see capped stores at the top of the frames showing through the crown board hole.

Happy New Year

Today - the 2nd of January we spent an hour or two tidying up the asparagus bed at the allotment. Amazingly there were a couple of spears that are edible! The bed was given a good weed, all the old plants were cleared and then everything was given a good top dressing with the two year old leaf compost. Although it was cold, the sun was out and it was really satisfying to get the bed into shape. There is plenty to do on the allotment but the ground is very wet underfoot, this is when the bed system comes into it's own. The rotted leaf mould is beautifully friable now- Trev was able to clear a space ready for some more manure when it is available, as they say it's all in the muck! We also came back with rocket, beetroot and some leeks. There is also some purple sprouting broccoli almost ready for cutting and some rainbow chard that I need to give some thought to cooking. Exciting times on the allotment!!

Happy Christmas

This year we have had an early Christmas- it's odd knowing that we have had our celebrations when everyone else is still preparing for the big day. It's Cristmas Eve and I have just cleared the fridge and frozen leftovers! We had a great time with all our family ,including a trip to the Nottingham Playhouse panto- highly recommended! So Happy Christmas to everyone and a brilliant 2012!!