Iddy Biddy Tomato

Doesn't it look cute, this is my first tomato growing and it's in the bottle house, can't wait to taste it.

We put the bees in the hive on Saturday morning, nice and early before they came too active, I had a quick look at the four hives on Sunday, just from the side, I didn't venture into them and they were all doing nicely, lots of bees flying in and out, looking good.

However this morning when I had a quick look, the swarm I collected on Thursday I'm a little concerned about, the bees were going in and out but none had any pollen in their baskets on their legs... as long as they were taking pollen into the hive things were going ok, or so that's what I was taught.  Anyone got any idea's or can reassure me.

I Caught a Swarm of Bees!

I was just chatting to one of the other allotment holders near the bee hives on Thursday evening and we were just chatting away looking round at the Hawthorne, saying how wild the grass was growing and how tall it was and commenting on the brambles, just general chit chat saying how much nectar the bees have in their immediate vicinity, when I spotted this!  A quick phone call to Pete who looks after the other hives, his original hive died over winter but has collected two swarms in the last month and 30 minutes later we were chopping down the branch and putting the swarm in a nucleus until I could build my spare hive.

We had planned on putting them in the hive yesterday but with the torrential rain we held off until this morning, they are now safely tucked up in their new home and hopefully they will like it.  So in the space of a month we have gone from 1 hive to 4, double what we originally had....

Introducing the Bees

Nothing much more to update you on since my last post, though I have sowed quite a few different pumpkin, squash and courgette plants. Thursday evening is usually my night at the allotment and then at the weekend when I get the opportunity.  As well as doing more squash etc. I've also potted on some of the tomato plants, they are getting so BIG, they must grow inches every day, this lovely weather is doing them the world of good.

I posted a video a few issues ago, giving you a tour around the plot and I am hoping to do this on a monthly basis, but you know how these things pan out, good intentions and all that, but please do keep coming back to have a look.  Hopefully the video works, I think there was a problem with it initially but I have uploaded it onto YouTube and it seems to be working better now.  Anyway, would appreciate it if you could let me know just a yes or no would suffice and then I'll be able to keep at it until it's working properly if things aren't going to plan.

I've just been looking at a video of how plants were in the greenhouse just a couple of weeks ago, wow things are moving along really nicely.  I've been hardening off a few brassica plants, so I might get them planted out at the weekend.

If you did watch the last video, I had to leave you dangling on a piece of string at the end as I had every intention of showing you the bees, but when I got there it was too cold for them and there were very few flying around the hive.  I did however take a quick video of them the other morning...

Just a bit of an update (2011 - my missing blog year)

Just to let you know a bit more about what I was up to whist I was unable to blog during 2011.  Well you might remember that when I'd last posted you back then, we had just been given the grant for the bees.  We got funding for hives, bees and suits.  Myself and another plot holder Pete both took charge of a hive each, with  spare parts to expand with another hive this year.  2011 went rather well, and the bees flourished.  We didn't take any honey off them, deciding to leave it for them to over winter on.  It looked like they had come through the winter ok, my hive was very active during the week in March that was unseasonably warm, Pete's didn't seem to be as active.  We had a visit from the BeeBase Inspector in April and he confirmed that Pete's had Nosema and wasn't likely to survive.  Nosema Apis reduces the lifespan of infected bees, increases winter mortality and reduces spring build up.  My hive on the other hand was going really well, "a lovely colony" he said.  Well what I need now is a nice warm day when I can open the hive up and do a spring check.  I will then decide if I am going to expand and create a second colony, not sure if I'm brave enough for this...

A couple of pictures here for you of the bee set up.

Wildlife Friendly Gardens

Following on from my find yesterday (the potential pond) I sat with Caleb last night and we discussed things that we would like to put into the little area of the allotment that we are going to dedicate as our Wildlife Friendly Garden. I know we all need to recognise the value and importance of insects and spiders and the vital role they play in our gardens. Of the millions of species of insects and spiders, only a few are considered pests and yet they are all seen as unwanted visitors. In order to create a wildlife friendly garden it is important to value insects and spiders and work with them to create a balanced environment.

Thinking ahead and looking though our magazines for thoughts and inspiration, we’ve decided on a few things which are going to make up this area. Firstly we are going to create the pond, and then we are going to have a Bugs B‘n’B. I found a little bumblebee house which looks simple enough to do. Caleb is going to make a Hedgehog house and a Toad house from some easy to follow instructions out of our gardening magazines, this will hopefully keep his enthusiasm for the project going. And dare we not forget all those lovely nectar rich friendly flowers.

Insects and spiders perform a huge range of activities beneficial to our gardens. They are an important food source for many other animals such as birds and mammals, fish and amphibians. They also provide products for us in the form of honey and beeswax.

Insects are excellent pollinators and are vital to most of our food crops, flowers, fruit and many other plants. Many insects are predators of garden pests, they are also important for recycling materials from the garden, eliminating waste and keeping our soil in a healthy condition.

Some examples of the many different species of insects that are beneficial in the garden:
• ladybirds eat aphids, scale insects and whitefly
• lacewings also eat aphids and leafhoppers
• ground beetles eat slugs and many different species of garden pests

Do’s and don’ts for insect gardening

If you would like to make your garden more insect-friendly you can use any or all of these features and incorporate them into your own design. To help you get started here are some important do’s and don’ts for insect gardening:
• do plant a variety of flowering plants rich in nectar
• do mix your plants so that those that attract insects such as ladybirds and lacewings are close to plants that experience problems with greenfly
• do plant close together to provide a moist shaded area, an ideal environment for lots of arthropods to thrive in
• do keep your soil healthy by adding compost to provide food for insects
• do provide a source of safe water
• do not use pesticides and insecticides

Just a few of the suggested planting to help and encourage the wildlife:

Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus
Foxglove Digitalis pupurea
Iris Iris pseudacorus
Ivy Hedera helix
Herb Robert Geranium robertianum
Holly Ilex aquifolium
Marsh marigold Caltha palustris
Poppy Papaver rhoeas
Snowdrops Galanthus nivalis
Teasel Dipsacus fullonum
Water forget-me-not Myosotis scorpiodes