Monthly Archives: May 2024

Nasty bees

Posted on May 16, 2024 by james

Thanks to an EFB outbreak locally I have an inspection booked with the seasonal bee inspector on Thursday, so I thought I’d take the time to have a quick check over of the hives beforehand. I opened the first hive … Continue reading →

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No dig diary, 16th May 2024

Posted on May 16, 2024 by james

They’ve been in the ground a couple of days, but I didn’t have time when they were planted to net the brassicas I’ve planted to stop the butterflies and smaller pests getting at them so today I put that right, … Continue reading →

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Memory Lane, 21st May 2023: A pair of pairs of swarms?

Posted on May 14, 2024 by james

I visited a bait hive today and found this: As the “clump” of bees outside didn’t appear to be having anything to do with those inside, I guessed that it was perhaps two different swarms that had tried to move … Continue reading →

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Super-quick super frames

Posted on May 14, 2024 by james

Looking through my supers today I decided that I probably don’t have sufficient frames for the Summer, so used my new frame-making jig to make up another twenty (as well as the ten I made yesterday) and dug out a … Continue reading →

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No dig diary, 14th May 2024: Berries behind bars

Posted on May 14, 2024 by james

Last year our currants and gooseberries produced a reasonable amount of fruit, but we got to eat almost none of it: the deer and the birds ate almost everything as soon as it approached being ripe. So, this year we … Continue reading →

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Smell that taste

Posted on May 14, 2024 by james

Back when I planted up the new strawberry beds I transferred the plants in the old bed to pots of compost and put them in Frankenstein’s greenhouse. It was quite late to transplant them, but it was potentially a better … Continue reading →

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Memory Lane, 19th May 2023: Here comes another one!

Posted on May 13, 2024 by james

Not my nineteenth nervous breakdown, though I feel I could be excused if it were. I was called out this evening to have a look at this swarm that a couple had discovered entering their chimney and smoked back out … Continue reading →

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A swarm is announced

Posted on May 13, 2024 by james

Or perhaps not. Lots of activity around my home bait hive, though I didn’t see (nor hear) them arrive. But when I went to move them in the evening, there was no sign of them. I think I need to … Continue reading →

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Let’s have a little jig

Posted on May 13, 2024 by james

One the rain started this morning, I retired to the workshop for the day. I was casting around for things to do when I realised that I had sufficient bits to make two more fat dummies, so I got those … Continue reading →

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No dig diary, 13th May 2024

Posted on May 13, 2024 by james

Rain, rain and more rain was the forecast for today, but I was able to get out early doors and finish spreading compost on the new flower bed and dump a couple of barrow loads on a veggie bed that … Continue reading →

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