Each tree now has had at least 1 wheelbarrow of cow manure.

Orchard with the brown fences removed and all trees having received 1 barrow of manure

I finished putting manure on the trees it’s only taken eight weeks. It was hard work, just me a garden fork and a wheelbarrow. A couple of people did say they would help but because of weather and Christmas it just hasn’t been possible to organise people, tools etc.

But it’s done just in time for the snow, hopefully this week.  The reasons for me to use cow manure.

•         Adding nutrients to the soil, instead of using chemical products. It’s also much cheaper.
•          I can add it directly to the soil, unlike horse manure.
•          The straw in the manure will also hold water and then release it back. Additional weight pushing the tree roots down.  (In case its very windy and preventing the wind blowing over the tree).
•          The additional manure should keep the root ball warm. (Will this help - ?)

I have noted that some of the manure, which I originally put down, has been sucked into the ground already.

I have also removed, most of the brown fencing that was around many of the remaining trees. This was so I could get the manure into place and also to physically remove weeds, which had built up on the inside of the fencing.  I have noted as you may have from the pictures over the past couple of years that ladybirds love this fencing and its makes it much easier to find them. I hope that they will still around in good numbers around the orchard but we shall see. If I see reduced number I still have the fencing I will put it back in place.

I may build an insect hotel perhaps later in the year, but part of me only wants to attract insects that would be beneficial to the orchard. In reality all the insects would be good they would attract other insects and perhaps other mammals or even a couple of reptiles.

No chance of checking on the bee’s its way to cold.

I have learned loads about worm cast over the week. The stuff is great for the orchard or any garden. Its Organic, stuff and full of nutrients. I will create a blog entry on this topic soon.

Bee Lecture January 2012

Sutton Beekeepers Question time

This month's lecture for Sutton Bee Keepers was a Question and Answer session similar to Radio 4's Gardeners Question time. The bee keeping panel were 3 bee keepers from the Coventry branch of the Warwickshire Bee Keepers association. The Coventry branch is based at Ryton Gardens, home of Organic Gardening "Henry Doubleday Research Association". The association has had a number of problems over the past few years with European Foul Brood (EFB). European Foul Brood (EFB) is a disease which if found you must notify Defra and they send in National and Regional Bee inspectors to investigate the cause and to take measures to kill off the virus.

Question 1 - How will GM crops affect us? 

The panel said if the government legislation changes and allows more GM crops to be planted then the public would lose confidence in British honey. The EU government wants to restrict honey sales of honey found to contain high levels of GM pollen.

The entire panel were against GM crops and some state that when GM crops were planted in test areas it created a huge amount of fear from the public. 

My personal thought is it would be good for British bee keepers if the British government were to maintain the ban on gm crops. The British public would have more confidence in honey and honey produce. Random testing of pollen from British honey would help to locate rogue farmers or even members of the general population which have GM crops or plants.

Some time ago Farming Today another Radio 4 program had an article about how the EU was going to ban honey which contains GM pollen. This would be beneficial for British Beekeepers in theory as Britain has so few GM crops. It would even make British honey, more attractive to the rest of the world. I see problems with this as well though; increasing demand would not be good especially if you’re a bee.

In the US many honey producers and importers heat and filter out the pollen so that it's difficult to tell where the honey originated from. This is something I learned from the Food Program yet another Radio 4 program. This means that all the goodness of the pollen is removed. The guy in the program was arguing that it’s no longer technically honey. One reason for this is to ship in cheap honey from China and India (whose honey is banned in the UK) then heat it and filter out the pollen, so that all the pollen is removed then bottle it before selling it. No one can then tell where the honey is from then as it’s the pollen from plants indigenous to India or China that mark it out, and can help in tracing it back to source.

Question 2 - Is it worth buying new frames each year

The entire panel was unanimous you should change your frames each year. One alternative was to give them a deep clean with a soda wash. You should also replace the wax comb every year.

This for me this was eye opening. I have over the past few years only replaced the wax comb and not the wooden frames. I will be replacing all the frames this year. I do buy new frames every year but normally to expand the number of colonies. 

The reason to change them every year is to reduce any disease or viruses within a hive or colony. This process would involve physically removing any contaminated bees wax and the wooden frames that hold the bees wax in place. It makes perfect sense to me; I don't understand why it hadn't occurred to me before. I normally just replace the wax and keep the frames giving them a rough scouring. 

Some particles may remain on the bees themselves but they can create a new environment that is clean and fresh. From a superfluous point of view it also looks better, and makes it easier to find bee eggs. They show up better on new wax comb as the wax is translucent and eggs are visible when the frame is held up to light. Some varroa mites would still get through this process though as they tend to latch onto bees and suck the life out of the bees, you could sprinkle icing sugar on the bees forcing them to clean themselves and in the process dislodging the mites.

All this would help in maintaining a healthy hive and trying to reduce the risk of European Foul Brood.

Question 3 - Best method to stop swarming

Most of the bee keepers just them get on with it and considered swarming a routine issue, once swarming had occurred they had become proficient in collecting the swarms and then either merge them together or starting new colonies.

A method of swarm control that was published in the April 2002 in an edition of Bee Craft was mentioned by a member of the panel who has been a Beekeeper 30+ years stated that it works and recommended it. I am attaching pictures of the method from that edition to explain the method. That's probably better than me trying to explain it.

Question 4 - If you had 5 bee hives and located a swarm how would you determine from which hive they came from

The panel would look inside each hive and see which had less bees or attempt to lift all the hives and the one that was lightest would probably be where the swarm came from.

Question 5 - Can the temperament of a colony be changed?

The entire panel said yes the temperament of a hive can be changed and gave examples and techniques for requeening. If a colony attacks you or if they regularly sting you then locate the queen and remove her and replace her with another queen from a more dorsal colony. You can obtain a new queen from another colony or let the hive create new queen cells. They also gave advice if placing a new queen into the hive. This included removing workers from the queen cage before going to the hive. The panel also gave suggestions and methods of disguising the new workers and the queen by spraying bees with rose water or placing the queen into your mouth and covering her in saliva and the spitting her into the hive. You would only do this with the Queen or a male bee as they will not sting you. You would never do this with a worker bee as if they stung you on the inside of your mouth or on your tongue you would be in trouble. The swelling would mean that you may not be able to swallow and breathing may also be difficult, and a trip to A&E may be on the cards.

Question 6 - If you could be a Bee keeper anywhere where would you be one, and why?

Madeira - It’s beautiful and the bee keepers paint the hives in the same colours at the national flag. According to the bee keeper the first time she saw bee’s hives in a valley while on holiday in Madeira she fell in love with the place and wanted to be a bee keeper in Madeira.

Tasmanian - The leather wood forests would be a great place to be a bee keeper and the honey would be delicious.

Anywhere - that produces Acacia honey and the bee keeper could present and server on the comb

They all sounded marvellous to me, but in truth I'm happy with my hives in my own small orchard just north of Birmingham.

 

The article is very old and as you can see  the bees wax etc is very dark making it unhygienic for bees that why modern practices would replace the wax with fresh sheets which the bees would then build on. You would then have a loving fresh comb.  which looks nothing like  these pictures but I will take a picture later this year and try and show you what it's like. Bright, clean fresh and it has a nice aroma too.

 

Warmer Weekend

This weekend was far warmer than last. I check on the trees all seem fine though I have noted a little more rabbit damage to one of the trees.

Old branch gnawed by rabbits

I have also seen that the rabbits have been gnawing some of the dead wood and have made a good attempt and are getting through it.

This week I have also seen a large number of worm casts around the place. Some as large as 10cm's in diameter and others much smaller. I don't know much about worm casts but will try and do some research on the subject, over the next couple of days.

Large worm cast

What I'd like to know is why they create them. I know that it improves the soil and give an indication that the soil is rich in nutrients. Why else would worms want to stay in any location where the land is contaminated. They would just have to move on to the next field etc.

Frosty

Frost on a bark of tree

It has been a cold weekend. As I went down to the orchard the car thermometer said it was -2.5. I walked around the orchard and was looking specifically for rabbit tracks and ladybirds.

Ladybird on a dead weed

I didn't really see any fresh rabbit tracks. They are smarter than I and probably watching me thinking "what's that fella doing walking around in this cold weather, I've got a fur coat on and I'm not going out in the cold".

Frosty Grass Crispy not Crunchy

Buds covered in frost

However I did spot over 10 ladybirds. Which is good news, I'm not sure what ladybirds eat this time of the year but I'm hoping they will survive the cold and prosper in the spring, then will eat any aphids that are around in spring.

Trunk of a tree cherry tree

No point disturbing the bees this weekend and one shouldn't even bother going into a hive if the temperature is below 5 degrees. They should be huddled together keeping warm and the bees should still have enough food for a couple more months, they must forage for themselves in the spring which should mean the trees get pollinated. Thankfully I checked on them last week and topped up the fondant, they were fine.

Trunk of tree covered in frost

Walking around on a frosty morning is something I would recommend its crispy not crunchy like with fresh snow. This week it was bitterly cold and lovely and quiet, I could hear birds singing and it wasn't windy, which makes it more bearable. It also changes so quick; so that as the sun comes up things start to change. colour's for one, the pale white disappears and true colours appear. If you look carefully the colours are generally darker as the soil branch or whatever has been touched by the frost is left a little damp or naturally moistured. The sun reflects the light well off the frost and as its rays reflect the light the rays slowly melts the frost away. If the frost is really good you can see the pretty shapes and angles like tiny crystals on the grass and branches and even on the buds. I have taken a couple of pictures of frost touched branches and even the grass which I hope you will like.

Branches and Buds covered in frost

I have planted a evergreen tree which was given to me it was a living Christmas tree. Evergreens are good for bees. Bees make propolis from them that's the stuff they use to clean the inside of the hive with and stick everything together, its also anti bacterial. The tree is probably a couple of years old and a welcomed new arrival. It took a while to get it planted as the ground was frozen, and it was definitely to small for the pot it came in. Now it has lots of room to spread and grow. I hope it thrives.

Buds buds and more buds

This weekend though the weather was nice I didn't get the remaining trees covered in manure. I may get it done in a week. I checked on the trees and found a couple had been damaged by rabbits. In all the cases its' not fatal. One is more damaged than others and thats one of the damson trees, pictures and more detail below.

The other pictures show the buds on the trees. I have included buds from the almonds cherry apple plum and pear. This time I have taken them from my digital camera rather than my mobile phone. I'm sure you'll agree that the quality is much better or perhaps I'm not very good at taking pictures on my phone.

You can clearly see, the differences the cherry buds are getting fatter the pear ones are long and pointed and apples are in the pictures very well developed, and the plums are still very small.


Most of the other trees were initially grown in soil at a tree nursery and then moved to the orchard when they were a year or two old and ready to plant.

Almond Tree Buds

The Almond trees are different, I bought these from a Permaculture nursery near the Derbyshire / Nottingham borders and then they were at my parents home in large the pots for upto a year before they were finally planted at the orchard. They seem to be doing well.

I would like to get some Walnut trees in but will wait perhaps later this the year, I need to source them and then decide where to plant them. I know that Walnut trees produce a chemical that can damage apple trees, however I have seen some in orchards in Dorset. I may need to investigate this further.

Plum Tree Buds

The picture of the plum buds show that they are still very small and the buds themselves are just visible. The plum trees bloom late and they fruit very late into the season. This variety produces a very juicy large purple fruit.
At the end you can see a small bud in the shape of a spear that will be where next years growth will be.

The Rabbit damage on the branch.

A couple of branches are low down and though they have been nibbled it the tree should repair itself.

The picture makes it look more serious than it is.

Rabbit damage

As you can see the damage to the underside of the branch is considerable. But as the whole of the branch is not gnawed the branch will have time to heal. This in reality is what rabbits do and through I don't want to encourage it's a natural act.  This level of damage on the trunk has the possibility to kill the tree.

I do leave dead wood around the orchard in the hope that the rabbits will gnaw at that but I have read that as the sugars flow down up and down the branches and the trunk of a tree it can attract these rabbits and other types of animals, including deer and sheep.

Pear Tree Buds

This a pear trees and shows the corkscrew effect found in most trees each shoot is at a different angle to the one next to it. The difference is normally around 120 degrees. The next one is then another 120 degrees around. It not extact but its interesting.

Cherry Tree Buds

This is a Cherry tree and the buds are all closely packed together. They are already about a 0.5 cm's in size and growing. Small round buds you can even see where as they grow they will continue and then open to reveal the blossom.

Apple Tree Buds

Finally apple tree buds these are the largest in the orchard at the moment they will blossom in a couple of months and they have a rather nice smell.

Ladybird on Tree Guard

One other picture of relevance is of a ladybird on one of the tree guards. Pretty isn't she.

A pleasant start to the new year

I checked on the trees today and all is well. I still need to put manure on a number of the trees, but its been a wet start to the new year and I didn't have the time or the courage to move the manure.

However I've noticed that the cherry trees have the largest buds followed by the apples then pears and finally the plums. It's also the order that the fruit ripens. The buds are growing and getting larger. Its pleasing to the eye and gives you something to monitor and watch as it grows and blossoms and then fruits. My patience and diligence should be rewarded with what I hope will be scrumptious fruit.

The picture is of a Cherry tree branch with lots of large buds.

I haven't been into any off the hives at the moment, the weather's been a little to cold. Though over the last couple of days and today I have noted bees coming out of the hives not in huge numbers but they are comming out. Even bees need the loo.

I have seen a number of ladybirds today on the trees which is also a nice sight, I want them to prosper so that can eat aphids early in the season.

The picture was of a ladybird on a tree but my phone camera didn't really do it justice.

Over the past month a number of branches on an old tree in the orchard have fallen. The tree itself must be over 100 years old and over the years many branches have fallen. I know that beatles and bugs will devoure the logs over time and part of me would like to see how it rots and then decomposes as it returns to the soil, whence it came.