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. […]
I need a new project! I’m thinking of doing one particular beekeeping topic in great depth, drawing on the expertise of experienced beekeepers and also the literature. Please can you let me know what you think by answering the poll? POLL CLOSED
At the risk of revealing my grumpy old man tendencies, I shall describe a series of unfortunate events which unfolded earlier today. Perhaps somebody will identify with circumstances like these when multiple small problems cluster together to make a GIANT ***storm! I had entered a local honey show […]
Not all heroes wear capes. These ones wear nothing at all. Read at Modern Farmer. https://modernfarmer.com/2019/09/livestock-superpowers-farm-animals-most-spectacular-traits/
In beekeeping, as in life, everybody makes mistakes. Even bees occasionally make them. The hard part is owning up to them. Douglas Adams said, “a common mistake that people make when trying to design something foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” I hate the fact […]
Extracts from my interviews with bee farmers about the main threats to their livelihood
Anybody who has been reading my blog for a while will no doubt form the view that I am obsessed with queens. I’m talking about queen honey bees, not what you were thinking, you smutty vermin. The queen bee is not the ruler of her hive, as some […]
Did you know that honey bees are experts at managing the temperature inside their colony? There are even “heater bees” who act like little radiators, applying their heat as required. They vibrate their wing muscles vigorously in order to generate the heat, which, as you can see from […]
Ahh, peace at last. My wife and her friends have just taken our two beagles out for a walk in the nearby Chorlton Ees nature reserve, and their deafening howls can no longer be heard, by me at least. Anyone nearby hoping to get a few extra hours […]
I live beside a main road in South Manchester and, despite high panelled fences and a monstous privet hedge, I am very aware of the presence of neighbours on all sides. I like them. Neighbours I mean. They all seem to have small children whereas mine are adults now. Perhaps I am meant to have moved away, to the place where older people go, but for now I’m standing my ground…
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