Christmas shopping...

Instead of doing any Christmas shopping, we went to Belmont and bought a large amount of pure wool. Some Icelandic, the grey on the left, and some super untreated Herdwick. Projects in mind include a long cardigan for Agnieszka, a jacket for Kalina and several hard wearing, weather-resistant, ultra-warm hats.

Back yard in bloom

Not the most beautiful of yards, but at least it's better than either neighbours!

Summer shows: The good, the bad, the ugly...

We didn't manage to get to many shows last year, Kalina arriving in July put a block on that. But this year we have turned out to a few, although we missed our favourites at Great Eccleston and Todmorden.

Plum tweaking wearing a fascinator, how the Cheshire Set live.

Finally got to go to Cheshire Show and what a let down it was. From the 40 minute queue to get in, the clueless parking people who had no idea how to direct cars, the soggy fields (despite three days of dry weather), the masses of non-farming types, the horses... not impressed.

Emley was a first and a good one. We'd heard lots about this one and it didn't disappoint. Great views from the top, some good sheep and goats, cattle, jousting, stalls, produce... My only criticism is there were too many people for the space available and there wasn't really anywhere to sit. Still, probably try again next year.

The winning vegetable display or, as Agnieszka put it, a stew. 

Halifax was our last one for the summer. A good one, despite me forgetting to collect the two sourdough loaves I bought when we got there. A real mix of fun fair, stalls and livestock. Although why you weren't allowed to walk in the cattle tent I don't know.

Next year we're hoping to try and get to Leek, somewhere a bit different. Other suggestions welcome.

Doing the splits...

Over the winter I lost a colony of bees. Talking to other beekeepers, reading other blogs, browsing articles, has led me to the conclusion that the colony died of starvation, not helped by being affected by nosema last autumn and being a small cluster, probably unable to keep themselves warm enough to move to available stores during the last really cold snap. Since then I have been thinking about splitting the one remaining hive and how best to do it.


Yesterday seemed an ideal opportunity. A week previously I had knocked down a queen cell and knew something had to be done, so with a decent bit if weather (sunny, a bit cloudy, cool breeze) I decided to take the chance. Equipment was readied, every grain of sugar in the house was used to make syrup, hive parts were checked for cleanliness and spiders.

I did the normal inspection of the first hive. Removed the, now empty, feeder and checked stores. There still isn't a massive amount in there, but they have enough and this cool weather surely has to end soon. In the brood boxes, as the hive is on double brood, all was well except for a couple of queen cells. Two frames of brood were removed into the new box, along with a couple of extra frames of bees, then began the hunt for the queen. Three times through the bottom box and I gave up. Surely she can't be in the upper? But three frames in, there she was. Into the 'queen cage' (an old hair roller) and transferred to the new brood box. She scuttled off between the frames and I moved the hive onto its stand. Added some syrup to the feeder, put the crownboard and roof on, strapped it up.  

Now I have to be patient. Will the queen be happy in her new home? Will there be enough bees to cluster successfully? Will she swarm? Or go back to the original hive? Will the bees in the original hive rear a successful queen? Are there enough drones? It will be a long week I think, and I am already itching to go and have a look, but I know that disturbing them now will probably do more harm than good.

Simple steps in seed saving...

Although I know it makes sense, I am still slow off the mark when it comes to seed saving. Having to construct a fly-proof cage, isolate a plant and then try to pollinate it myself without any biddies getting in to fluff it up, makes the whole process seem quite arduous. But I keep reading about it, thinking about it.

Last year we had a good crop of very tasty broad beans on the plot. The first batch were put in in October, but a brief snow fall in December burnt all the tops off and they didn't survive. So in Srping I replanted, in the only part of the plot with more than four inches of topsoil, and they grew, flowered and fruited well. I left about a dozen or so pods on the plants at the end of the season and then removed them after a couple of weeks. I now know I should have taken up the plants and hung them to dry before removing the pods, but no matter.

In the early part of the year, around half of the seeds I saved were put into large yoghurt pots, two to a pot. They were left outside and given no real looking after. After a month or so they started to show and gradually two plants showed from each pot. I had 100% success with the first batch.

About two weeks ago they were planted out on the plot. Good roots, nice tips, they should do well and produce enough beans for us and for some more seed. The other half of the seeds are destined to go out on the Rainford plot in better soil. The variety is a dwarf one, and last year only grew eighteen inches high.

I'm really pleased with the success of the germination and progress so far. Plus I feel like seed saving could actually be easier than I thought. While I have saved about a fiver, it's the satisfaction of knowing I grew them, I harvested them, and I kept the seed in good condition until this year. I saved some seeds from the runner beans too. A baker's dozen, which have also gone in yoghurt pots, one to a pot this time. I can see the top of the soil thrusting upwards but so far it's impossible to tell how many will germinate and grow.

Losing the plot, in more ways than one...

On top of the churning of the site there came, last week, news of changes in management. The site is currently run by a foul-mouthed woman and a couple of gay absentees who take the money and promise the world but who actually never deliver. Previous ideas included buying everyone a spade and fork, installing water and providing a toilet on site. None of which has ever come to fruition. Now there's trouble at t'mill as a group of three or four have taken firm steps to take over the running of the site and find out where the rent money has gone.

I've pretty much had enough and, while I will play along for now, the long-term plan is to slowly extricate ourselves from the whole situation. The bees are moved and slowly we'll take off what we've planted and not replace it. So far there are spuds in, King Edward and Charlotte, but no sign of any growth yet. I did plant them deeply and it has been chilly so I'm not surprised.

The garlic has been in for a while and looks good, with the lovage making a comeback in the distance. Lovage is great chopped and added to soups and sandwiches and has a celery hint without being over-powering.

Onions are also in now, planted on a wet Wednesday morning. The sets were from Edwin Tucker and are, I have to say, not the best. Out of just over 100 that arrived, I planted about 80, the rest having gone mouldy or failed to sprit. Still, we have no room to store many, so I should stop wingeing!

Moving house, part two...

After a three week break due to crap weather, I finally got everything together to go and check the bees. A slight panic at first as there was nothing flying, but a quick look under the crown board told me all was well. They seem to have settled into their new home quite well and look like they are building up nicely.

I also got time to put up a second hive stand, which you can see in the background, covered in the wood I used to shore up and rebuild the killer steps. They're not brilliant, but they're a lot better now. The second stand will take a Commercial brood body, something I am trying out to see if it gives the bees a bit more room. Slightly against my better judgement, and partly to make some space in the yard / shed, I have added a second brood box to this hive and will try on double brood for this season. I don't have enough equipment to have more hives because, quite simply, I don't have enough space to store spare equipment for more hives. 

Once the weather properly warms up, hopefully in May, I will split this hive to go back to two colonies. The method I will use is a new one, but comes recommended from a bee farmer. Take the queen of the original colony on a frame of brood and move her to a new hive along with some bees. The flying bees go back to the original hive (and then raise a new queen) and the non-flying bees stay where they are. The queen thinks she's swarmed, and I double my colonies. Sounds simple, so we'll see.

Pamiętam...

Dla Ewka od Tatusia.

Ulubiony robote...

We've had a good long spell of dry weather, give or take the odd shower or two. So I took advantage of it to turn over the bit of the plot I am going to use and then plant the potatoes.

It really is my favourite job on the plot, a real reminder that spring is coming and that new potatoes won't be long (about 14 weeks usually, less if I can't wait). So it's out with the soil, down to a spit deep. This is possible on one part but not on the other so it just goes as deep as I can. Line the trench with good rotten cow shit and then gently place the chitted seed potatoes. Draw the soil back over the top, making a little bit of a hillock to show other people I've been busy, then stand back and admire my work.

Moving house, part one...

I thought I might have had the plot to myself last week when I popped up to turn the ground ready for the potatoes, but the place was packed. There'd also been a good deal of activity since my last visit, as I found out when I went through the gate. What was once good thick turf has been reduced to a slippery slope.

It got worse further in, with the path to the plot more of the same, up to the spring where we get our water. There, some bright spark had had the idea of moving the basin where the water collects, with the result we now have a pool where the old pool was, and a swamp because the new plastic sump doesn't drain the water away properly.

When I got to the bee plot, I was horrified to find this mess:

Walking across from the path was hard work and I can only begin to imagine how much harder it would be with a full super. You can't even wheel a barrow it's that uneven. When I queried who and why, and pointed out that was my half plot for the bees I was given some vague bullshit that just proved once again that the people who have plots on that site have no clue how gardening works, and if brains were manure, there'd be enough to fertilise only a very small gro-bag.

So my hand was forced, so to speak. I don't want the bees on this site any longer and decided to move them straight away. So with a friend, Andrew's, help the remaining hive (the one on the left in the photo) was lifted from its home of over three years, carried stumblingly across the ground, placed gently in the car and driven to a new location.

The distance from site to site was well over the regulation three miles and they should do well there, secluded and in the midst of masses of balsam. I returned to the plot site on the Monday and removed the rest of the windbreak netting and the remaining hive and will re-queen as soon as possible to get back to two colonies.

All this was done in the rain so thankfully there were no flying bees, and I have yet to inspect them after their move, but it all went smoothly, albeit a couple of skids on the path of the skimmed allotments and a near-miss blunder at the top of the potentially lethal steps, below.

The photo is blurred because I was still shaking after slipping on the second step, with Andrew skidding at the top. Thankfully those orange straps keep everything nicely tight and together. So one colony successfully moved, no stings, no mishaps. Thank goodness!

Don't count on your council...

Graffiti these days seems to consist solely of 'tagging', those irritating and pathetic attempts to put a mark on something. In the olden days, graffiti said something, but now it's rare to find something thought provoking or controversial. My own favourite of the last few months, written in neat capitals in a Salford underpass, was: 'Bethany Atherley stinks of fish!'

So it was with pleasure that I noticed this message to the council:

Not that they'll take any notice. A couple of weeks ago our soak away drain was tarmaced over. This has been useful over the last five years, taking water from the downspout and soaking it away so it doesn't wash across the footpath. Now it does, because the council have blocked up the soak. They told me it wasn't a soak, it was caused by 'erosion' because there was no foot on the downspout. It reminded me of Father Ted, querying why Dougal hadn't taken Father Jack for his walk to the cliffs. 'They were gone' says Dougal. 'Gone?' says Ted incredulously, 'How could they be gone?' 'Er... erosion.'

Needless to say, I got no joy from the council. They have blocked up a perfectly useable drain, and now water floods across the footpath. The road is pitted and rutted, potholed and cratered. The footpath on Market Street has almost no flag that doesn't wobble. They've approved another £18million in cuts, to add to the ever-increasing amount they say they have to save, but have miraculously found £4.5million to improve the main market. They continue to pursue a ridiculous bid to gain city status when the town itself has the mentality of a small village...

*Gets off soapbox...*

Rest in bees...

Apologies for the awful pun, but it seemed appropriate. On Saturday, with the mild weather continuing, I decided to go and check all was well with the bees. The first colony, the more tetchy of the two, was filling the super and buzzing quite a bit. Their mood wasn't help by my clumsy removal of the super. I just couldn't get it off and ended up tipping one side and prising off the frames underneath. I knew it would be stuck but didn't think it would be so bad. It wasn't helped by the extra comb the bees had built down into the, now empty, frame feeder. At least they have taken all the Fumidil B and so should be nosema-free now. One thing I do need to do is widen the slats in the floor for the varroa tray. Part of the reason I don't effectively manage the varroa is because it's a struggle to get the sliders in and out. Must remedy that this season, it's a part of my beekeeping I know is lacking...

So, after a bit of lumping about (and only one minor sting!) I moved onto the second hive. Oh dear. No sign of anything when I took off the lid. A small cluster of maybe 20-30 bees were stuck at the top of one frame and there were odd ones and twos of bees across some of the other frames. There were stores, at least four frames-worth, but from the position of some bees (head down, right down into the cell, just the business end sticking out) I must suspect starvation. I can't understand it, they were a good-sized cluster not two weeks back, with plenty of stores and a frame feeder full of syrup. Needless to say they hadn't taken much from the feeder. So for the first time since I started keeping bees, I have lost a colony. Gutted. I brushed off the frames and closed up the hive and came home to think about my next move. I hope to move both hives in the next few weeks and then, once settled, will attempt to re-queen from the first hive. I like having two colonies, it gives a way of comparing how each is doing so I will make sure I expand again as soon as possible.

On a slightly different note, I got my monthly newsletter from my association, Manchester beekeepers. The results of the honey show were in. Seven of the classes were won by the local bee inspector. Is it just sour grapes, thinking a professional beekeeper has an unfair advantage?

Snowdrops and rain...

It's been some time since I posted anything. Kalina keeps us both busy and, at the moment, there's very little to do on the plot except visit every couple of weeks and replace the covers that the wind blew off. The bees were treated with oxalic acid, for varroa, and Fumidil B, for nosema, in December and are snug in their hives. At some stage I will need to move them on to our plot as the powers that be want the area they are on for another allotment. The original idea, that the area was used as a 'bee garden', has obviously been superseded by financial need although the way the plot site is run means spaces are given to people who turn up once, pay, and then disappear. Cronyism is suspected, rather than getting people who are interested and willing to break their backs. Our plan for this year is to leave half the plot covered, put potatoes on the other half and pray whatever gods we can think of that we're offered something by the council close to home.

The bees present another problem, however, and I am still trying to find somewhere for them. Hopefully I will get somewhere before the end of February when the weather should start to warm up, although we have been promised another cold snap.

On a brighter note, the snowdrops we have on the windowsill have started to flower. Pretty little white heads, tinged with green, nodding gently in the breeze and looking in at us through the window. A sure sign winter is ending.