Baking Greek Fig and Honey Bread
7 months ago
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Friday, 26 December 2008
Happy Christmas Clan Varroa! .......NOT!
Today dawned bright and sunny here in Oxfordshire! So we set our mid-winter plan in motion to treat all our bees for Varroa using Oxalic Acid.
This treatment was discussed at the Southern Regional Bee Disease Recognition day, where the experts felt that everyone should treat their bees at christmas. This forms just one element of an integrated programme, employing a variety of techniques throughout the season, to lessen the impact of these damaging pests.
I have reservations about using 'chemicals' on my bees, but after much research, it seemed the lesser of all evils........and my old mentor Wally, up on Anglesey, has been advocating it's use for years. So, after a quick chat with my beekeeping pal Ian, Lynne and I set off to the 'lottie' Apiary. The hive was briefly opened, and we were greeted by the heartwarming sight of a large cluster of gentle bees, who seemed unpeturbed by my clumsy efforts to attend to their welfare!
Back home, we opened our garden hive to be greeted by a large number of bees, again clustered on about 6-8 frames. Lynne shot a short video which we will link here when we can sort out the computer glich's....look out David Attenborough & the BBC Wildlife Unit!
This treatment was discussed at the Southern Regional Bee Disease Recognition day, where the experts felt that everyone should treat their bees at christmas. This forms just one element of an integrated programme, employing a variety of techniques throughout the season, to lessen the impact of these damaging pests.
I have reservations about using 'chemicals' on my bees, but after much research, it seemed the lesser of all evils........and my old mentor Wally, up on Anglesey, has been advocating it's use for years. So, after a quick chat with my beekeeping pal Ian, Lynne and I set off to the 'lottie' Apiary. The hive was briefly opened, and we were greeted by the heartwarming sight of a large cluster of gentle bees, who seemed unpeturbed by my clumsy efforts to attend to their welfare!
Back home, we opened our garden hive to be greeted by a large number of bees, again clustered on about 6-8 frames. Lynne shot a short video which we will link here when we can sort out the computer glich's....look out David Attenborough & the BBC Wildlife Unit!
Friday, 5 December 2008
More on the GM debate!
Just recieved our latest copy of 'The Ecologist', and browsed their website. Lynne and I were, to put it mildly, very disappointed in the recent BBC Horizon programme which featured the very presentable Jimmy Doherty 'waxing lyrical' on the whole GM debate.
After his excellent 2 programmes on the plight of both the UK's Bees, and those of Tibet, we thought that we would be treated to a balanced review of this dificult subject. We urge everyone to form their own view, but we are NOT convinced that this is the way ahead! Please check out the link above.
After his excellent 2 programmes on the plight of both the UK's Bees, and those of Tibet, we thought that we would be treated to a balanced review of this dificult subject. We urge everyone to form their own view, but we are NOT convinced that this is the way ahead! Please check out the link above.
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