I’ve been away for a week, and come back to find the Verbascum in full flow. It’s a great plant, and bees and hoverflies love the tall spikes of exquisite little flowers. The buddleia is also in flower, as are the evening primrose – currently full of pollen beetles. I have masses of bindweed all over the garden, and I have always had a fondness … Continue reading Summer Garden
It was a rather murky day for my visit to the Thermosolar bees, but the meadow areas were brimming with bees and butterflies. Marbled White, Meadow Brown, a couple of Small Skippers were flitting above the flowers and grasses, joined by a variety of bees and flies. There were also numerous banded snails which looked extremely pretty against the daisies. I walked through the thigh-high … Continue reading Meadow flowers and the Thermosolar hives
In a previous post, I wrote how I was feeling chuffed that I had managed to pick two females from a batch of unsexed ducklings. Hmm. I was using the beak colour identification which is apparently pretty failsafe…for ducklings under 3 days old. The yellow/pink beaks of the females and dark grey beaks of the males swap over after a while, so pale beaks in … Continue reading Drakes
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll notice a new layout for the website and possibly a few other changes too. As for most of us, the past 18 months have given me an opportunity to think about how best to use my resources and share my knowledge. Beekeeping has always been about a fascination with insects. I’ve been interested in nature for … Continue reading New Look Wayward Bee
I don’t have a lawnmower, and use my numerous guinea pigs and rabbits to keep the lawn down. I only have two guineas and one bunny now though, and the lawn has rather taken over. I say lawn but my garden backs on to intensive arable fields so it’s rough grass, and years of mole activity have made the whole garden pretty lumpy. This year … Continue reading No Mow…at all
We have just had the solstice here, although as often happens with the longest day, the cloud cover was so pronounced it wasn’t particularly obvious! There has been copious rainfall, but at least the ducks are happy. I keep ducks mainly because they are always so enthusiastic and contented with rain and mud, unlike the chickens who get themselves in to a profound sulk. They … Continue reading Moths and Ducks
It’s taken a while, but it’s lovely to have some proper summer weather. There haven’t been many swarm calls which has meant I’ve been able to focus on some other garden projects which I didn’t get round to last year despite going literally nowhere for 15 months…anyone else in that situation? My friend helped my tie in the roses (that’s to say he did it … Continue reading High Summer at Shawpits
Any of you who have been following me for a while will know that I am first and foremost a naturalist and nature-lover, and beekeeping gives me an excuse to indulge this longstanding interest of mine. It also requires and inspires me to think holistically about how I can help my honey bees and consequently the other insects (birds, mammals, plants etc etc) around them. … Continue reading Love your Aphids
A glorious day, and the daisies have popped up almost overnight! Great to see such a swathe of these: they are not only good pollinator plants but also provide some nice tall cover for mammals. The blackthorn has gone over now, as has much of the hawthorn but this late spring does mean the traditional “June Gap” that beekeepers dread – when the trees finish … Continue reading Themosolar Swarm Update
I went to check on the bees living in their dilapidated hives at the foot of the South Downs, and they are thriving. I have set up a hive nearby which I baited again with lemongrass oil, but I’m not sure that the bees have swarmed – certainly not recently. The owners take a keen interest in these inherited hives and had not heard any … Continue reading Selmeston Bee Check
