Sustainable beekeeping, chickens, and cake
The wasps are out in force at the moment as they no longer have brood to look after, and therefore are not only , but also deprived of their sugary hit they have been getting from the larvae. Wasps catch meaty prey for the larvae but cannot digest it themselves, so chew it up for … Continue reading Reducing the Hive Entrance
Ok, so this is a bit of a departure, but it ties in with some thoughts and other discussions, so bear with me... Sustainable beekeeping to me is having hived bees in such a way that incorporates them in to the local area so that we can share the fruits of their labours, but not … Continue reading House Cat, and Sustainable Bees
I hatched some chicks this year, as I wanted to rear some replacement pullets and I had a few people needing cockerels, plus I had a couple of Sketching Chickens classes booked, and chicks are always fun to watch and draw. They remind me so much of little dinosaurs as they run around the garden … Continue reading Boys and Girls
I needed to check the bees in the Thermosolar hive hadn't glued their roof down again, and for that I needed the propolis to be really soft. It's a hot day today in the south east, and while I was there I thought I would put a honey box (super) on too, so they have … Continue reading Super Thermosolar
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 … Continue reading Bee Fest 2019 – a photo album
The hives at the Pevensey & Westham Community Forest Garden have done well this year, and are a valuable part of the permaculture ethos of the site. They are health-checked and regularly observed, but otherwise left to their own devices. Following a compost workshop, one of the attendees noticed a swarm in one of the … Continue reading Swarm at the Forest Garden
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 … Continue reading Bee Fest 2019
The Thermosolar bees have been in their hive a couple of weeks and I wanted to make sure they had settled in. They were very active, and not very pleased to see me! I didn't have my smoker so I might have to use that next time - the smoke distracts them and masks any … Continue reading Thermosolar update
Today I went to visit the Knockhatch Adventure Park bees to see how they were getting on, and to check if any of the bait boxes were occupied. As I walked past on my way to the Wildlife Area, the bees in the oak tree were flying well in the sunshine: https://videopress.com/v/ZXw7aCEt The swarm we … Continue reading Knockhatch update
We've had a beautiful couple of weeks here in Sussex, and I was wondering how my bees were doing. We have had a distinctly unbeautiful patch of weather during June and I was appalled to see on Twitter that many people's colonies had starved, having been caught short following the removal of a spring crop … Continue reading Apiary Update