sustainable beekeeping and wildlife gardening
I visited the Langstroth hives at Selmeston today as we have had some beautiful spring weather and I wondered if the bees were flying. Sure, enough, they were! https://videopress.com/v/ySTaeADc?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata Their hive has completely sunken in to the ground so they are using this entrance which they opened last year. There is some very pale pollen …
Yes. Growing bees. I had this thought on the way home from meeting my friend Paul, where we had been lamenting the problems of 'wildflower meadows' in community spaces, as he is masterminding in the churchyard at Winchelsea. The difficulty is that the public perception of a wildflower meadow is cornflowers, poppies, daisies, waving grasses, …
It's the shortest day today, and the weather has been calm and cool. Rain is forecast for the rest of the week (including, obviously, the Christmas weekend) so I wanted to go and check on the Thermosolar hives while it was at least dry, if a little cold for the bees to be flying. A …
Continue reading "Winter Solstice and the Thermosolar hives"
I have a very low threshold for shopping, but I do love food and Christmas is a great excuse to indulge that. One of our favourite places is Plaw Hatch which is part of the Tablehurst biodynamic family of farms in Forest Row. The veg, meat, and cheese is all of such tremendous quality and …
I recently had to have my lovely rabbit Rhubarb put down as he developed an aggressive Pasteurella infection which couldn't be treated in the long term, so the vet and I felt it kindest to have him euthanised. I lost two guinea pigs a few months ago, which could have been from the same thing...difficult …
My dog is still on British Summer Time so has his breakfast extremely early (he's a Lab...not one to have any truck with "no you can wait another hour for food"), and I take him out just as it's getting light. I take my binoculars to scout for deer before letting him off as there …
I have always allowed my chickens to free-range, but the bird flu shenanigans last year made me reconsider how I could continue to let the have their outdoor space but in a more manageable way. In addition, the covid shenanigans have encouraged me to think more holistically about the garden and how to make it …
I wanted to pop in and check the inspection boards of the Thermosolar hives to monitor the mite numbers, and generally make sure all was well. It was a cool day but there was some sunshine so I hoped the bees would be flying. https://videopress.com/v/uKhpxIBe?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata Sure enough, the second hive was active, with bees steadily …
I was contacted by someone who was asking if we would be resuming our Sourdough Tales workshops at Starnash Farmhouse, and I had to tell him that sadly we no longer had the available space, but that I had vlogged my sourdough baking back in one of the Shawpits Diaries, so I thought I would …
Willowherb. One of my favourite plants, and at the moment it's exploding with great swathes of candy floss seedheads, although most of them have been harnessed with gossamer like the willow twig and agrimony here: I heard the twittering of Goldfinches as I walked along, so they are presumably enjoying the seeds. The Cuckoo Trail …
Wayward Bee 