Sustainable beekeeping, chickens, and cake
The Sourdough Tales workshop with Vicky and me at the wonderful Starnash Farmhouse all about learning about how to make a decent loaf, but also gaining an understanding of the process so you can actually fit it in to your everyday existence, rather than it being a rarified experience to only be tackled when the … Continue reading Sourdough Tales Workshop
The Marsh today was looking exactly as it should following the high rainfall we have had recently. It is a floodplain, taking the runoff from the bypass and surrounding industrial areas and in doing so, providing a magnificent habitat for wetland species. Geese, gulls, starlings, skylarks, ravens, and a Little Egret were taking advantage of … Continue reading Tarps on the Marsh
We took a trip to Langney Marsh this afternoon to give the West Rise school bees a final check for the autumn. There was a lot of standing water, perfect for the snipe which zig-zagged up sharply as we passed, and we both heard and saw a number of reed buntings as well as the … Continue reading Autumn Check at the School Apiary
Now that the bee commitments are starting to quieten down for the winter, I went to visit Paul to discuss plans for next year with the Market Wood bees, and any other swarms we capture from the feral colonies in and around Winchelsea. I have one of the swarms here at my apiary as we … Continue reading Winchelsea Visit
I have been waiting for the weather to cheer up enough to go and check the Thermosolar bees at Berwick, and today I took the plunge, otherwise I feared it would be Christmas before I got to them! The brooding skies weren't terribly promising, but I wanted to at least check all was well, and … Continue reading Thermosolar Hive in Autumn
In a bid to protect my smaller colonies from the cool, damp British winter, a couple of days ago I transferred them from their single-walled Nationals in to double-walled WBCs. I couldn't do this with the National Trust oak tree bees as they had a lot of crossed comb and I can't move the frames … Continue reading The Value of Observation
I have my bees in National hives with a standard brood box, and have never thought it necessary to insulate them. However, since working with bees in trees and comparing the two environments, I can now see the vast difference in the thermal properties of a tree trunk and a National hive which is made … Continue reading Insulating hives for winter
I received a phone call yesterday for someone who appeared to have a swarm in their conservatory: hundreds of bees, all crawling up the windows. They'd arrived that afternoon and the gentleman had rung pest control who said they'd be along in the morning to gas them (!) but thankfully the homeowners decided against that … Continue reading Honeybees? No, ivy bees
I wrote a post back in January about a hive I had which contained the bees we rescued from a wall in a squash court in 2016. As it was free comb cut from the cavity in the brood box, I couldn't have access apart from 6 frames in the super above, from which I … Continue reading Hive autopsy, and spiders
Today I met with Paul and Mike to discuss our ongoing plans for hedging on the Marsh. We have applied for some subsidised hedging packs from The Woodland Trust, but we are keen to retain the openness of the landscape, and the saplings have to be protected from stock so we are limited in where … Continue reading Hedges and Ditches at the Marsh