sustainable beekeeping and wildlife gardening
Time for a visit to the Marsh bees, to see how both colonies are getting on. The entrance to the top bar hive is facing in to the prevailing wind and, given how the only surviving colonies had their backs to it, we want to make sure that the bees don't have to deal with …
I have been given some photos of Bee Fest by Helen, who runs the Forest School for West Rise. It shows some of the essence and energy of the day, and how much the children get to engage with their environment. The Marsh is an integral part of the school, and the ethos of the …
It was set to be a scorcher for West Rise Junior School's annual Bee Fest: a celebration of the Bee Sanctuary and a chance for a mass Forest School session on the Marsh. This year, as well as the original Warré and newly-occupied top bar bee hives, there is now the Reptile Sanctuary adjacent to …
It was a hot and sultry afternoon to meet at the Marsh to discuss hedgerow plans, and how to integrate the various demands on the site in a sympathetic and unified manner. Paul and I met with Mike Fairclough, the Head of West Rise Junior School; Virginia Pullen, Chief Landscape Architect for East Sussex County …
In our ongoing drive to promote biodiversity at the Marsh, Paul put in an application with the Woodland Trust to receive some subsidised hedgerow tree packs for the Apiary site. We have to be careful about access for diggers to clean out the drainage channels (sewers) but inside the Apiary and the newly-fenced reptile sanctuary …
A beautiful day at the Marsh to check the bees. We had asked Oscar at The Shed to make us a new Warré box for our hive, and he had commissioned Jim and Dino to do so, which they did - out of a former church pew: We wanted to get the next box on …
The bees in the Warré hive at theWest Rise School Apiary at Langney Marsh have done extremely well, considering they got through the winter in one box, and have had no supplementary feeding. Paul noticed that they had filled the previously unoccupied lower box so a new addition was needed urgently! This has taken us …
I've not been down to check the bees at the Marsh since February, although Paul has dropped by to see how they are getting on. There was a chilly breeze and we were pleased to see the bees flying in with pollen. It's amazing to see that they've survived the winter in one Warré box …
With the Langney Marsh School Apiary Project, we are keen to include different groups and societies to maximise the reach and engagement with the bees. One element of this is to utilise the skills of the men and women who attend The Eastbourne Shed, a workshop organised by Age Concern Eastbourne. People can go along …
Continue reading "Bee Hotels and a New Hive for the School Apiary"
We have been planning to increase the tree cover at the Marsh, to provide both shelter from the wind and better foraging opportunities for our small colony of honeybees. The black poplars were the first to go in, and all six seem to have rooted and survived the worst of the winter: The mulch seems …
Wayward Bee 