This summer I was going to be staying with Mike & Lesley Palmer in Vermont, followed by a road trip to Toronto via Niagra Falls. Alas COVID intervened. Instead, we bundled into the car (farting beagle too) and drove up to Tighnabruaich, on the Kyles of Bute, Scotland. […]
When Richelieu said, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” in Cardinal Richelieu (a play by Bulwer-Lytton in 1839) he was in a bit of a pickle. As a man of the cloth, he could not take up arms against his enemies, so he took up his pen. […]
Many beekeepers in the UK are in the process of removing supers and extracting their honey. The summer is nearly over, queens are laying less, and the bees are beginning to arrange their nests for the winter ahead. Most of the varroa treatments available to us should not […]
Humans (and walruses) are part of the natural world. We are animals. Sometimes we like to set ourselves aside from nature as if we are not part of it, but this is wrong. However, there is no denying the powerful and often damaging impact that homo sapiens have […]
I am coming to the end of my ninth beekeeping season. I started with two hives, and now I have nearly forty, including nucs. My journey has just begun, but at least I’m through the beginner phase. Here are some things that I have learned, which seem to […]
This summer has been a damp squib. Literally damp, but what on earth is a squib?! I always wondered about that expression. Apparently, a squib is a firework, so a damp squib would be a disappointment if you were expecting an impressive explosion. Damp squib: “a situation or […]
I like to think of myself as objective and open-minded, but of course, I’m delusional. Unintentionally so. The thing about being biased is that we don’t see it in ourselves. We clearly see it in others, especially when they hold contrary views to our own. There is something […]
“Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name,” teases Mick Jagger in the epic Stones track “Sympathy for the Devil”. He sings, “Let me please introduce myself; I’m a man of wealth and taste.” Such words do not apply to me, as I sit typing this in […]
I have just completed a Star Wars marathon, which involved watching all of the Star Wars movies and stories in the correct chronological order on Disney+. One film per evening, for eleven straight evenings. In order, they are: The Phantom Menace (George Lucas, 133mins) Attack of the Clones […]
The bees don’t care about COVID-19; in fact, they seem to be having a great time. I don’t know if it’s the reduced air pollution, the beautiful weather or something else, but my bees are booming. I’m a little concerned about the lack of rain which is a […]
