More rain

We are almost at an end of the year and it’s still pouring down. The flooded area still hasn't receded and wont this year. The weather report says more rain. The ground is so saturated that a muddy path is building alone the route I walk along to check on trees.

I have spoken to Chris again and we both wondered around the trees to see the damage that was caused last week. He had spoken to the jockeys and kids who have been known to walk through the orchard on their horses, occasionally stopping to graze on the grass.

The damage is amongst a group of trees in the top right hand side of the orchard. It looks like a number of trees have been affected. Chris was trying to tell me that it could have been deer but it seems unlikely. I am sure we must get small deer in and around the area, the damage was closer to where the horses live and the areas affects seem to be too high to be deer. The horses are still the prime suspects.

I checked on the bees and they are fine. I have topped up the fondant on all the hives.

This year has been the wettest and worst for an orchard. It’s been tough and very frustrating. I look forward to the New Year.

Rain floods and ladybirds

Flooding the the orchard

I checked on the trees on Sunday. I wasn't looking forward to it much as its still raining and many of the fields and open spaces are water logged. Even the canals and rivers as well as the lakes are all over flowing.

Bark gnawed by what ?

I checked on the trees some of the bark of the trees have been damaged by a large a animal, the damage is way to high up the trees to be cause by rabbits. I can only presume it was caused by the horses from the stables next door.

I've taken some pictures of the damage. I spoke to Chris from the stables and he tells me that some of the horses have been in the orchard but they are accompanied by one of the kids and the horses are always on a leash. This was evident from the manure and and the foot prints.

I saw a single ladybird on one of the trees. I have to admit this is the first one have seen this winter. Normally I see loads, but with the poor weather the number is much lower than normal, this maybe a problem for the spring. They normally keep the aphid numbers down in the spring.

Ladybird in winter - yeah

Cold frozen fun

So cold the water around the willow trees has frozen over

I was down at the orchard with the whole family, my son enjoying feeding and stroking the horses in the field next to us. My son was disappointed we hadn't bought apples for the horses and actually cried when it was time to go home. Today was one of the only days this week with no rain in fact it was warmer than normal and the bees were coming and going out of the hive.

The weather over the last couple of days has been cold and so cold that the water and the small area of the orchard that floods had frozen and a small layer of thin ice which was great for stomping over with your wellies on. We also picked up bits and dropped little bits of ice down each others backs and even cracked large bits of ice over each others heads. We had fun messing about.

Bees enjoying slightly warmer day

The trees are fine minor amounts of rabbit damage nothing major.

My son stroking a pony in the next field

The ground is very damp and the horses have been on the land munching up the grass, they havn't killed anything and the orchard is looking better with the grass much lower down.

So cold my lips are cracking

Walking around the orchard this week was interesting. It was cold no frost but a chilly breeze blows and the sun is shining. Its bitterly cold and my lips are cracking.

I can see horses have been in the orchard again. I will have to close the gap in the fence. I have stated previously I don't mine horses in the orchard as long as they only eat the grass I don't want then nibbling the trees. The statement still holds true, they have still only eaten the grass and have left me small piles of manure all over the orchard floor, as thanks.

I now only have two leaves on the trees, they are both on the almond trees the rest have fallen off and most have been consumed and pulled down into the soil by worms. Some will have blown away, or are trapped in fallen grass. The orchard floor is still damp, muddy squidgy and the ground remains very saturated. The part of the orchard that was flooded a couple of weeks ago is still very water logged. The water doesn't seem to be doing much and hasn't reseeded.

A couple more trees have been gnawed by rabbits and I have secured and made the rabbit guards larger. The trees had all got some level of  protection and I regularly have to wonder around and check each tree to ensure they haven't been damaged. If some gnawing has happen then protect it further.

I looked for insects by not many ladybirds etc around. Lots of birds everything from Buzzards to Pigeons and magpies.

Frost but beautiful + Bees on farming today

I was down at the orchard yesterday and went early in the morning so I could check on the trees covered in frost.

It was cold but beautiful. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Icicles on branches

frosty

Frost covered tree

Frost covered leave

On the issues, side mind, the ground was too cold to do any weeding and the rabbits have been gnawing trees again. Those darn rabbits. I need to spend more time getting protecting the trees. The trees affected were protected by rabbit guards I made initially when experimenting with home made rabbit guards. Since then I have made them longer and they normally stop rabbits getting to the trees.

Water frozen with plants peeping through

The ground has absorbed much at the water and with the frost around it looks like all the water has disappeared, I found and crushed various bits of ice where the water had frozen it does make for nice pictures though.

Gnawed Tree Bark 

Because I have let the grass grow long and let it  fall down naturally, the worms should consume it and bring the nutrients down into the soil. It should also help with the recent flooding.

On the BBC Farming today program they had a whole program on bees today and highlighted some of the issues. The lack of food, the use of chemicals by farmers and the reduced honey harvest this year. I have been lucky and did have some honey and I have had some labels printed to sell the honey a couple of jars are show in the picture. The proceeds of the sale will go to buy more supplies for the bees and perhaps some equipment. Lets see how much I manage to sell.

My Jars of honey

More horses have been into the orchard, I can see this from the foot prints and the manure on the orchard floor, but they haven't harmed the trees. I need to block of the fence and talk to Chris about this.

More rain and flooding

Its been another very wet week.

Area where the pollarded willow is flooded again

Its been raining everyday for the pass week, so I kinda figured that the ground at the orchard would be very wet and that the corner that does get flooded would be so it was no real surprise when I got down their and it was.

The water in the flooded area was a brown muddy colour on Sunday. Many of the farms and the roads have been flooded, and the livery stable owner couldn't drive down to the stables. He had to walk down and with his Wellington's on, he didn't risk it even with the land-rover  I had gone down to the orchard with two fellow bee-keepers  I showed them around the hives we looked into two of them to see of the bees were fine and were still eating the fondant. In one fondant have been eaten and and brace comb built up into the additional super. I don't really want the bees wasting energy building wax. However it was nice to see the bees flying around, in this weather.

I saw a couple of ladybirds and various other insects. The grass is dying but the trees are doing ok.

Next week its going to get colder that will bring different issues.

Weeding started and I've seen 2 field mice

Orchard this week

I have started the weeding and its going well. I have actually seem two field mice while weeding, both seem to have set up home under different fruit trees and because some of the weeds have a grown 30-50 cms long around the trees they are were happy. However I have pulled up the weeds and they they will either move on or return to the mouse holes. The mice seem to have lots of food with worms insects under the trees to eat.

I have check and fixed lots of the rabbit guards some of the larger trees have also been gnawed, but are now protected. Most are done.

I have been watching Tales of the wild wood on the BBC I player its a great programme. Worth a watch if you have time.

The weather has been more rain and I can see some large puddles  building up.

This entry is a little later and over the past couple of days we have seen more rain and its worrying  Will check the orchard over the weekend. Near me I have seen lots of large trees knocked down because of the adverse weather.

Golden floor

Golden floor around the orchard floor

The floor of the orchard and it surrounds are beginning to be full of leaves and falling grass. In some places the floor was a stunning golden colour.

Rabbit warren empty this year

The remaining leaves on the trees are getting paler, to me even the the almond trees leaves seem a little paler this week.

Quince leaves getting paler

With the foliage on the orchard floor fast disappearing its clearer to see the homes of some of the creatures that live in the orchard. I can see rabbit holes and even homes that may belong to field mice or other creature.

I think I am seeing less rabbit holes this year it could be because the ground has been so wet this year and the water table would have come up. Some rabbit warrens  may have flooded or made them too damp for rabbits to live in. The rabbits may have gone up the hill or further up the embankment. That being said I am seeing small mice holes around the orchard floor perhaps not as many as previous years, but I can see them.

Buds ready for next year

The buds are now visible on lots of trees and to me they offer a promise of what could be next year. We still have months of dormancy before they will grow and actually open.

The rabbits have actually started to gnaw at a couple of trees. I have over the previous years made lots of rabbit guards  some of they have fallen away and some just need to be checked. Its was nice to wonder around. The plan for the coming weekend is to spend a day weeding and fixing rabbit guards.

Tree trunk gnawed by a rabbit

Go out and have a look now.

Get out side and have a look around this is one of my favourite times of the year.Things are changing so quickly, its a time of year when things are closing and getting ready for the following season. Nature is discarding this years clothes and fashions and getting ready for the following year. The buds have started to form on the trees, Seeds have fallen and are sinking down and getting ready to leap out at you next year.  The trees have pushed all its sugars deep down into its roots, and are awaiting the suns warm rays to rush up and push out new branches extend old ones and force up all that energy. Go out and check it out.

Just wrap up warm.

This was the last paragraph from the last entry. Im sure not everyone reads to to the bottom so I created a separate entry.

Its Cold Quiet and the ground is wet

Its was cold and bitter

The news reports have stated that the ground in lots of areas is still saturated because of the large amounts of rain that we have had throughout the year. Well I can confirm the orchard floor is very still saturated. We had more rain last week and so its just building up in the ground.

Quince tree with yeallow leaves

Under some of the trees I can see that the worms have been doing a great job and successfully sucking down the dead leaves and bring fresh soil to the surface.

The leaves are yellows, reds  and browns and still green on the almond trees and its very quiet, and cold. The cold last week was very sharp.The wind was also piercing.

Almond tree still with green leaves

The almond trees are strange they start growing early in the year and they are still very green this time of the year compared to other trees. They seem to be doing more in terms of trees of what trees do, than the other trees in the orchard. Some of the trees start to grow buds in late April and by October they have started to fall and by November the tree is dormant. I  have had no harvest from the almond trees this year but the trees themselves are doing well in terms of growth and foliage this year, but they do work harder or are active for longer.

Red veins on a quince leaf

I look forward to the new year. The planning for some pruning in January has already started and some new willow. I may also plant some chestnut and oak trees around to encourage more varieties and diversity.

It was far too cold to visit the bees but I hope they are doing well.

As I write this I am on a train from London to Birmingham, and I can see that they many fields, woods, and bits of land that I pass are water logged. I have even seen several hundred willow trees planted. I presume they are being grown for energy, as a biomass as they are planned very closely together. The colours along the journey are great and the journey very picturesque.

People get out side and have a look around this is one of my favourite times of the year.Things are changing so quickly, its a time of year when things are closing and getting ready for the following season. Nature is discarding this years clothes and fashions and getting ready for the following year. The buds have started to form on the trees, Seeds have fallen and are sinking down and getting ready to leap out at you next year.  The trees have pushed all its sugars deep down into its roots, and are awaiting the suns warm rays to rush up and push out new branches extend old ones and force up all that energy. Go out and check it out.

Scotland and back home

I've been away with the kids for the half term holidays.

We went to Scotland where we managed to see a couple of fruit trees, many apples trees still had fruit. This was my first time to Scotland and I was hoping to see the autumnal changes and the falling of leaves and the changing of colours. I wasn't disappointed. It was like being bombarded with colours.

The further north you get the fewer trees you see and the ones that you do seem to be small and more compact and doing well in their own peculiar way.

Near John O Groats I saw some trees that were growing at a 45 degree angle, presumable because of the weather the wind and rain forcing them to grow at strange angles.

Back at home in my orchard. Things are also changing very few trees still have green leaves. Lots of the  trees have lost most of their leafs and the rest of the  leaves have turned yellow or red and are getting ready to fall off.

Some of the quinces have very pretty red veins on bright yellow leafs.

I can also see the occasional meadow buttercup and I have included a picture of what Ispot called a meadow butter cup but does look like any others on google images. I may have to do a little more research on it.

The trees I have noted have a considerable amount of moss growing on them and the ground continues to be very dam and moist. The grass is dying back and it seems in some places that the ground is actually 2 inches further down that you think. This is because the grass is so long and has fallen down giving the impression that the ground slightly higher than it is.

I have given additional food to the bees and each hive got 6 kilos of sugar fondant, winter is kicking in. I may have to order more in.

Bee Stings

18th October 2012 lecture given by John P Gower

John is a surgeon who became interested in bees and bee stings after a patient had an extreme allergic reaction to a sting.

People have around 40,000 stings a year. From his experience most are from wasps. Around 20 people have anaphylactic reactions. Anaesthetic drugs kill about 10 people a year, nuts kill about 5 people a year and insect stings from wasps and bees kill about 4 people a year. Roughly 40 bee keepers a year are taken to hospital. 

Why do bee and wasps sting. 

Bees and wasps sting normally to protect nests and colonies. Lots of reasons can trigger or increase the likely hood of stings; this includes things like the weather, the season, the state of a colony, if a hive or nest is queen less, or brood less.

Guard bees are alerted as an animal approaches too closely to a hive or makes nervous or erratic movements. If hives are rocked or vibrated or a direct threat to an individual bee is identified it heightens the chances of a sting.  Strong odours, pheromones, dark colours and carbon dioxide from mammals also increase the chances of a sting. 

Guard bees intent on stinging, rear up with wings spread and mandibles' open.

Alerted bees may leave nest searching for a predator. 

At first bees start buzzing and irritating-annoying the predator. Bees may continue and finally head butt the predator to ward them away. Bee's will also burrow into hair and may pull or bite hair again to annoy and irritate the predator away. The bee or the wasp is going for rapid movement and is searching for the face and the breath and sweat will attract the bees.

Bee attempts to sting

Where clothes are more constricted the bee sting has a better chance of impaling you. Venom that has dried on clothes will attract other bees. It's important to keep the bee suit clean.

The sting is a modified ovipositor. Only the queen and the male bees do not have them. The sting is normally in a retracted state. It is enclosed in the 7th abdominal segment controlled by nerves.

One the sting has been deployed its takes for upto a minute or longer to inject all the venom. The venom is stored in a venom sac grown from day 3 - day 21 in the brood. The older a bee the less venomous they are.

An umbrella action sucks and pushes and pumps the venom. The bee sting pushes in deeper by pumping its muscles.

Venom is a clear liquid which tastes bitter and smells of ripe bananas 88% of it is made up of water. It also contains enzymes and phospholipids, Hyaluronidase and acid phosphates its these that are responsible for the allergic response. 

Venom contains mellitin about 52% of it is mellitin. It encourages the production of cortisol in the body as does Apamin and another core ingredient. The rest is a mixture of Adolapin, Phospholipids and Hyaluronidase and Histamine, which causes the allergic response.

The first sting is the main allergic contributor. It produces a local reaction, 

• fiery intense pain 
• immediate redness
• small pale raised area about 1 cm in diameter

Second and sub sequential stings.

• Central sting subsides but surrounding areas swell and increases slowly over several hours
• It may be gross where skin is loose. Primarily the face.
• Such swelling is not dangerous unless it affects the airway
• Itching is caused by histamine released, from the venom.
• There may be blistering and this can get infected if not protected 

Treatment of normal reactions

• Relive pain by cooling - via ice pack
• Give simple analgesic aspirin paracetamol
• If swelling after stings becomes a problem take antihistamine and hour before tending the bees eg Priton.

Bee keepers normally become desensitised to bee stings over time some even after having kept bee for a long period may get an allergic reaction. 

John suggested a book by Harry Riches - Medical aspects of Beekeeping for further reading.

London Honey Show

I attended the second London Honey show yesterday. I also attend it last year and again it was held at the Lancaster hotel.

This year it was slightly bigger and a bit more organised. I attend all the lectures which was pretty easy they had 3 though at least one of the original speakers let the organisers down and a substitute was needed.The lectures weren't given in the order stated on the agenda but that didn't really matter.

The first speaker was Frank Minns a gardener from London. He isn't a bee keeper and this was evident. He mentioned various plants that he as a gardener had noted bee’s liked. Some of them were rather exotic. He even mentioned more traditional flowers like daises, and types of roses that are suitable for bees but it was clear that he didn't know which plants were good for pollen and which were good for nectar or flowers that are suitable for both, or he didn't mention it.He did note that bees like white and blue flowers and wasn't aware that bees can't see the red, or that part of the visual spectrum.

It was an interesting talk, and I did learn about some rather large plants that would look good in very elegant gardens and smelt of honey. He was also critical of grasses and mentioned that they aren't beneficial for bees. Frank also mentioned various trees and how they provide food for bees, Lime trees especially.

I would have liked some seasonal information, like planting Willows for pollen in the early months and Chestnuts then Lime trees and then ivy for the winter months, some of the audience clearly wanted this type of information. I talked with a couple of people after the lecture and it was a nice chat.

The second talk was on Bee Keeping for Beginners from author James Dearsley writer of "from A to Bee".

This was also interesting and somewhat glossy.

Although as an author of a bee book you get the feeling he was trying to sell a couple of copies of his book. He did mention a couple of mistakes that he has made. It was obvious that he really enjoys bee keeping and like all bee keepers its changed his life and his life perspective. He mentioned how he is more interested in the plants that the bees collect pollen and nectar from. He is also more aware of bees and watches them to see what they are doing and where they are going and collecting from. He mentioned how most bees are lazy and how they have perfected the waggle dance to tell other bees where decent food can be found. If they can collect food from an easy source they will. He highlighted recent stories the French M&M factory where bees were collecting the coloured sugar and the Incident in the US with maraschino cherry juice.

In hindsight I did enjoy his talk more than I thought, as he was an author I kind of felt he would be plugging his book and at the end he did. I haven’t read his book but he stated that it was about the bee keeping mistakes he has made. It's more of a humorous book rather than a theory one.

However off all the lectures I enjoyed the final one the most it was from Karin Courtman from the London Bee Keepers Association

She mentions how the number of hives in London had gone up, from 1617 in 2009 to 3337 in2012. This was from people registering their hives on BeeBase. She also mentioned facts like the amount of honey being produced in London had gone down per hive and some bee-keepers have to feed bees throughout the year. She also stated that you don’t need to be a bee-keeper to enjoy bees. She mentioned what she enjoys about going into a beehive the sounds and the smells. The way that as a bee-keeper you learn quickly how the bees are feeling. How the smell of the wax, the propolis and the honey is something you enjoy and the feeling you get when you’re in the hive. These are some of the things I enjoy also, you never know what’s going to happen when you enter a hive, or the feeling you get when everything comes together and you have 60,000 bees whizzing around and your know they aren't going to harm you.

She also mentioned mistake she had made and when she was stung some of them were dumb things that I have done, but as a fellow bee keeper they were understandable. She presented it in a way that was simple and made it sound like she was having fun.Although she has been taken to hospital because of the number of sting she received once, while showing a class of new bee-keepers that they shouldn't be afraid of the bees. All the students had bee suits on and she didn't.

The show had lots of other non bee related stalls and exhibitors, like Suzanne Morgan an artist from Wimbledon who attempted to sell some of paintings, and a family selling different types of cakes.

I also liked some of the stalls selling bee products like Gold and Black a company from Dorset that makes bee’s wax candles. The wax comes from Yorkshire and I always thought that established bee keepers especially from the north never gave away the bee’s wax. Bees wax is  far more valuable than the honey.

The Thornes representatives were on hand to sell bee keeping supplies but it was somewhat muted. A couple of stands selling various bee hives I was impressed with a hive made from recycled materials, not sure the bees would be. Also no one from the Omlet organisation as this would have been an ideal market for them, and when I met a chap from Omlet at the spring convention a couple of years ago he was based in the London Kings Cross area.

A couple of charitable organisations were also exhibiting, this included Garden Organic and lucenarium a social enterprise helping marginalised people. The Open university were on hand promoting ispot a website when you can take a picture something in the wild and people help identify it. I upload the picture of the caterpillar I found on Sunday  and its a knot grass Caterpillar. 

The honey tasting completion was also nice, lots of honey on offer and varying colours and textures.

Weeding and a single caterpillar

Caterpillar

This week I started weeding some of nettles the thistles and rag wart that been growing in the orchard. I have started with the weeds that are around the trees themselves and it’s been tough. I plan on burning them then next week. I will have to pull out more weeds then build a small bonfire and burn them. I may have to continue the progress for a couple of weeks, and build a small fire each week, the plan is to build small fires in places where in the next couple of years  I plan to plant trees, then cover the area with bovine manure. I may even plant some wild flower seeds so as to encourage them to grow, and spread before next round of planting.  

The orchard is full of weeds or plants that are traditionally thought of as weeds and I know that some of them provide a good food source for my bees   and encouraging a varied wildlife, it does half look messy, mind.  I need to cut paths in and around the trees again. This will probably have to wait until the beginning of spring next year. I need to get some of the equipment sharpened and ready for the amount of work that it will have to do.

I have also started to look at what creatures are in and around the orchard. I found a strange looking caterpillar, which was surprising as it’s getting darker and cooler, and I personally don’t associate October with caterpillars and butterflies. We are clearly into autumn and they seem to be thriving. Last week I found a frog and this week a caterpillar it’s good that the creatures are thriving in the orchard.

I still see loads of rabbits and hares in the orchard, which is good, and nice to see them when I arrive and then they dart off and disappear. I haven’t seen any pheasants in the orchard this year but have in previous years.

Horses may have been into the orchard again, recently as again they have left me lots of manure. I didn't see Chris but will have to talk to him. I would be more than disappointed if they were to damage any of the trees.

I don’t know the exact names of the creatures that I have come across but I am now aware of a website that I can upload pictures too and then people can try and identify them. Will have to do some research into this and start using it.

I plan to collect acorns and conkers if I see them and place them into the freezer and see if I can plant them in the orchard, just to increase the different types of trees and encourage more wildlife into the orchard. I may even plan another withy ring around when the bee hives are. It would be nice and a good food source 

for them in the early months of bee keeping season.

So many ideas and plans and they all seem so simple but getting the work done isn’t as easy. 

Mead Production

Notes made at the lecture given by Peter Spencer at the Sutton Coldfield BeeKeepers lecture evening 20th September 2012

Mead is the original alcoholic drink and is mention in Hindu text dated from roughly 1500bc. Mead occurs naturally in some hives as its honey that has a high level of water and natural yeast has started the fermentation process. It was thought that mead was a gift from the goods and was offered back to the gods.

Most famously mead was drunk by Vikings, probably as part of wedding feasts.

The primary ingredients of mead are : - Honey, water and Yeast.

Today the essential additional ingredients are : Yeast, Acid, Tannin and Vitamins quantaties and ratios of water to honey 10 liters of water with 2.5kg of honey less honey produces a less alcoholic drink

The acid can be provided from the juice of lemon and the vitamins are to feed the yeast. The difference yeasts can be combined and can alter the quality of the mead. The yeast actually consumes the honey. The Tannin is for astringency. Which is the puckering sensation you get when you eat or drink something with a sharp taste. You can add fruit rather than adding tannins directly. Yeast can occur naturally but you don't know if a naturally occurring yeast will have a positive effect on the mead.

The yeast is a culture that can survive in the mixture and actually consumes the honey and the vitamins and will leave a sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

The method heat the honey and the water to about 66 degrees and allow to cool until about 21 degrees then add the yeast and other ingredients.
 Peter commented that he adds 1 tea spoon at sugar and 1 teaspoon of marmite at this point.

 The initial fermentation is very rapid and does not require a  bung or air lock. Instead place a muslin cloth over the mixture so that nothing can fall in and gas produced during this initial fermentation process is allowed to escape.

 Peter also suggested trying different types of honey and stated that heather honey is his favourite, but takes longer and could take upto 5 years for the mead to mature and be drinkable.

 You can after a week siphon off the contents into another container and discard any sediment that has built up at the bottom. Peter also suggested that placing the mixture into a demijohn would make handling and storing the mead much easer. You should now apply the bung/airlock and its important keep the bung wet. You can also top up the mixture with additional water, peter recommended boiling the water first allowing it to cool down and then add to the mixture. This is then stored for a further 5 to 6 weeks. Then the siphoning off so the top layer is removed again, and then discarding the sediment at the bottom.

 Then leave in a cool place for a year. The mead at this point should be bright and clear, it can be bottled and after a few more months its ready to be drunk.

 A sweet mead is best kept for 4/5 years. So its important to keep records of what you have done and when the next process is required. Things like when each process is started and when last siphoned types of honey and yeasts used and any other ingredients should be recorded.

The alcohol levels of mead are much higher than some other alcohol drinks, and are normally around the 12/14% area.

The water that is used does make a difference and  if water is from a hard water or soft water area it makes a big difference and suggested using water from a soft water area.

Since the lecture I have looked at various web sites and it appears people have very different approaches. They all produce mead and its more a question of personal taste. The main ingredients are water yeast and honey.

Frogs, Lichen and bees with loads of pollen

The trees are fine, some have started to change colour and the leaves are beginning to wilt. The leaves themselves on some varieties of cherry trees have started to turn a nice orange/red.

The grass is way too long and hasn’t been cut and the hay not been collected. I reckon that the farmer is going to let me down and not get it done.  On the positive mind the grass will rot down and become a green fertiliser and as most of the tall stuff still has seeds it may be a promising year, next year.   With so much grass rotting down it maybe that in some places the ground will be rather muddy, next year if we have loads of rain. When that amount of grass falls down it blocks the light and everything beneath it dies down. I am hoping that some of the clover will great through and flourish.

The bees are doing well they seem to have found a decent pollen source and are bringing in loads of the stuff. The pollen is a nice bright yellow. I didn't actually go into the hives, so I'm not sure how much of the sugar fondant they have taken down. My guess with the amount of pollen they are bring in the queens are still laying and are still filling the comb with honey for the winter period.

 

I had a slow wonder around the orchard and a mooch to see what’s happening and examine the seasonal changes. I found some pears still in the trees and a rather handsome frog with a circular ring or crown  on his back in the area that’s rather damp. The willow ring is doing really well on all the pollarded willow I planted earlier this year.  I have more that a meter’s growth and the branches can be stretched out so that they touch one another. I should have a reasonable withy ring next year but will probably plant more.

I also looked at different types of lichen on the trees. The lichen is thriving. I’m not sure what types of Lichen I have in and around the orchard but as some is yellow in colour It means that the soil is high in nitrogen. I can also see lots or more pale lichen, which is again a good sign. I really like the pictures of the lichen.

Bees get last dose of Api Life Var for 2012

The weather on Sunday was not pleasant, it also looks like its going to be wet and windy for the next couple of days.

I applied the last dose of Api Life Var which I did successfully, even though it was raining. I had no choice really the treatment must be applied every seven days and this was the last dose.The reason for the regularity is, if you can hit the varroa mites every week for 4 weeks you are attacking the varroa for the entire justation period of a bee; from when the egg is laid to when it emerges from it cell. If the varroa mite can be reduced for this period then the new bees that emerge have time to develop and should be stronger to fight of the any varroa that are still in the hive.

Bees are never happy when you enter the hive when its raining. I entered all three hives and to my surprise the bees wern't that aggressive, even though it was raining lightly. The fondant that I gave them last week has been greatly reduced, I would guess that about 3 kgs of the fondant has been eaten. I may need to get more fondant this year.

The orchard is pretty quite the leaves are begining to to fall and I reckon that in a couple of weeks all the leaves will have fallen from the trees. I have also seen large amounts of horse poo in the orchard. It looks like the horses from the stables have been getting into the ochard. They seem to keep themselves to the far end. It's worrying, but they seem to have kept to the grass and not touched any of the trees. I need to talk to the stables owners and find out whats been going on. In reality I don't mind the horses eating the grass, it will bring it down, as it has grown out of control. However they should not touch the trees. I would hate to lose any growth on the trees.

I also worry about the horse poo, I would prefer bovine manure in the orchard and at this point I do not want to build fencing around the trees. Perhaps in a couple of years I will get sheep and they will keep the grass down.

Started feeding the bees and lesson learnt.

Fondant block placed into the hive

So over the weekend I removed all the supers and the queen excluders. I have applied the next dose of the varroa treatment and place a 12.5 Kg block of fondant on each hive. I have enough to apply two does on each hive and if  I need more then I will start feeding syrup.

Fondant block in less than a minute

I was down at the orchard on Saturday and checked on the bees I can see capped brood and eggs in all the hives. The weather has been generally warm but the mornings and nights are getting colder. The last dose of varroa treatment will be applied this coming weekend.

When I put the fondant into the hives, which was a straight forward task i noted that within minutes I could see that the bees had started clustering around it and had immediately started to consume it, and bring it down..

The suppers that I removed did have some honey in them but not large amounts so its probably the right time to start feeding the bees. So I took the supers home and the plan was to place them in the garage.This is when I learnt a lesson. I place the empty equipment next to the garage door and opened the garage door and I was distracted by friends coming to visit. I didn't return to the garage for about 45 minutes. When I got to the garage what should I find to my horror, all the suppers were covered in thousands of bees, some had even gone into the garage where I keep my spare suppers, and extra hive and my nuc box and the fondant, it was like a large swarm had descended onto the equipment.

My smoker, which many bees found interesting

I closed the door to the garage, which meant inside the garage its reasonable dark and we have a side door which lets in light. The bees had gathered around the window and when I open the door the majority went out. I did the same again about minutes later and all the remaining bees came out.

I started then to deal with the suppers I had to literally remove each frame from the supers one at time brush off the bees and then take the frame away. Then the actual super itself. It took a while but was a learning experience. The bees, I'm not sure who's bees they could have been were very docile and a pleasure to handle. When I managed to remove the suppers I fund that the small quantities of honey that were still in the frames had all been removed and the supers were completely dry. The bees had even uncapped and removed some of the crystallised honey that was remaining in a couple of the frames.

The bees remained for am hour or so or more, I didn't received a single sting in fact, I sow the bees fighting each other for the honey and found a number of dead bees on the floor. The bees were even trying to remove any extra wax that they found lying on the floor from capping etc.

I learnt a lesson this week, don't leave equipment out and about, after use, it far to dangerous. Its a good thing my neighbours didn't the masses of bees that had gathered on the suppers, they may have truly had a shock.

I didn't managed to get around all the trees this weekend. I was hoping to but its was a busy weekend.

Sutton Honey Show

Some of the Exhibits at the Sutton Coldfield Honey show

 I had never entered a honey show however all that changed this week. I went and deposited at first two jars of granulated honey. I then realised that I could enter a couple more categories so I rushed home and grabbed another jar and entered another category. I have entered the novice class  and the granulated honey categories. The honey show was held at the Belfry golf course a very nice location for the show. Not sure how many members of the public attended, but it wasn't that published from what I saw.

Next year I may enter a picture for the best photo entry and perhaps a couple of candles for a candle class and hopefully a couple of jars of honey depending on the harvest next year. The pictures show my honey with those that they are completing with.

I also applied the next dose of varroa treatment at the hives in the orchard. This means that all the hives at the orchard have been treated for varroa this year. From later this week I will start feeding the bees to get them though the winter even though they are still bringing in nectar and pollen. The plan is to put the mouse guards in place in a couple of weeks. I have seen lots of capped brood in the hive but no eggs.

Bees clearing the wax of honey

I took some of the excess honey comb out of the hive this week and as you can see from the pictures a couple of bees followed me or perhaps they followed the scent of the wax and the honey and then cleaned out some of the comb. This weekend the weather was lovely, it was hot and it felt as if it were the middle of summer not the start of autumn. The bees were lovely to handle not a single sting and when I was taking the picture I had removed my gloves and face mask. The bees were very friendly to handle, and a pleasure. This year what with the bad weather, and poor conditions they have been a lot grumpier.

I have a cherry tree that was damaged earlier in the season so I trimmed it back and I can see new growth on the tree. Which I am very pleased with, at least I have not lost the tree, I may have lost a couple of years of growth but not the tree.

New Growth on a damaged cherry tree

The grass is yet to be cut and I can see other farmers still bailing straw etc, So I am hoping that mine will be done soon. I also found horse manure in the orchard, looks like one or more of the horses from next doors stables has managed to get in and have a wonder. I didn't see any damage to the trees though. Also some of the cherry trees leaves have started  to loosen and the leaves will probably fall off in a couple of weeks, and the leaves are beginning to change colour so autumn is fast approaching.

Conkers and more candles

Last week I said how I had enjoyed making candles, well this week I found my other silicone moulds and I started to make more. I have two other moulds one of a teddy bear sitting on a hive and the other is a bear next to a bee hive. They are nice and cute, my kids really like them and I hope others do to.

I may actually sell some perhaps nearer to Christmas and some of the others will be given away as Christmas presents. So I made six more candles this week.

More candles made my me

As the picture shows they are nice. I am not sure how many I'll be able to make. I can make more of the smaller ones obviously so I will probably will make more of them, they contain less wax. The larger ones that I made last week contain about 100grams of wax, that's a lot of wax. I gave one to my mum and she is going to test and give me feedback perhaps this week.

I have started the varroa treatment at the orchard and the three hives have all received the first does of treatment of ApiLifeVar. The other doses will be applied over the next couple of weeks.

Chicken in the woods mushroom

Over the past I have found a fungi on one of trees its a chicken in the woods mushroom that can been eaten, it about 10 feet of the ground so its pretty high up and in truth I won't be collecting it. In past I have eaten one a couple of years ago now, while in Belgium. From what I remember its tastes nice, I had it in am omelette and the one on the tree is big enough to make several omelets.

Apples in the orchard

I have found more pears on the trees and I may be making the same mistake again by letting them ripen and will pick them next week. They are still small lets hope them ripen and are ready for picking next week.

Lots of spiders about I took a couple of pictures. Some of them are pretty big. My hand was tangled in a web over the weekend and I had the contents of the web all stuck all over my hand. Hence the interest.

I picked a couple of apples which I took home, havn't tried them let.

Me having at rest at Conkers

I visited conkers this week. Conkers was a coal mine that has been converted into a nature reserve people pay to visit it, or become members. Its very modern and well worth a visit, They have re landscaped it and put various attractions and things for people to do. like interactive exhibits I liked and assault course,my son liked the small train that gets you from one site to another it a quick ride. Lots of indoor activities for wet days in the various education buildings. They also have outdoor interactive exhibits like getting water to run down various channels and getting fountains to work. The kids enjoyed wondering around the labyrinth. They also have various hides and rest areas, which are nice. Nothing that stands that I haven't seen before but they have brought them all onto one location. Its a place that adults and children can have fun. Well worth a visit if your in the midlands check it out. http://www.visitconkers.com/