Category Archives: Smallholding

Old Speckled Hen bottled

Posted on August 16, 2017 by james

Much of this evening was spent in the beer shack, bottling the “Old Speckled Hen” that I started the weekend before last. It wasn’t ready to bottle last weekend, so I left it a couple more days and got it … Continue reading →

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First brew in a while

Posted on August 12, 2017 by james

I’ve not had the opportunity to spend a day in the beer shack brewing for a while and stocks are running low (for some values of “low” 🙂 so last weekend I decided it was time to get some more … Continue reading →

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And they still don’t…

Posted on July 30, 2017 by james

Hoping that 9pm would be late enough for the bees not to be interested in leaving the hives I went out and started mowing again, only to find them pouring out onto the front faces of the hives almost immediately. … Continue reading →

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Honey bees don’t like suede

Posted on July 30, 2017 by james

Or so it would appear… This afternoon I’ve been mowing the grass where I walk into the apiary. I always wear my bee suit when I do this just in case, though I’ve never had a major issue with the … Continue reading →

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Incubating eggs, Day 29

Posted on June 6, 2017 by james

No longer incubating of course, but about a week after they hatched the chicks are in a larger area to give them space to run around whilst they’re under the heat lamp. In all we had twenty-one hatch, but sadly … Continue reading →

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Incubating eggs update, Day 21

Posted on May 28, 2017 by james

Well, they’ve been arriving thick and fast (and somewhat noisily) today. Fifteen so far I think, with another three eggs that have pipped though it’s not easy to tell looking through the lids. Sadly we also had one Marans that … Continue reading →

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Incubating eggs update #2, Day 20

Posted on May 26, 2017 by james

Well, he (or she) wasn’t hanging about. We have a hatched chick! It’s not a great photo unfortunately. I’ll get a better one tomorrow when we move it out of the incubator after it has dried off. One of the … Continue reading →

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Incubating eggs update, Day 20

Posted on May 26, 2017 by james

The long peck to freedom! Alerted by cheeping from one of the incubators I’ve just gone to have a look and one of the chicks is already well on the way out. It’s not a great photo but it is … Continue reading →

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Incubating eggs update, Day 19

Posted on May 26, 2017 by james

Today I took the incubators off the cradles and removed the dividers so the eggs are just lying on the incubator floors. I also lowered the temperature half a degree and pushed the humidity up a little. At the same … Continue reading →

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Incubating eggs update, Day 12

Posted on May 18, 2017 by james

I weighed the egg trays again today. The weights of the eggs this time are 1055g for the Suro incubator and 1062g for the Brinsea, giving losses of 91g and 101g or 7.9% and 8.7%. At this point I’d be … Continue reading →

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