How lovely it was to finally have some rain last weekend. Because we have been creating the new growing beds in the Enclosed Garden it has been a very difficult time for the new planting trying to get established . The soil is very dry and with the strong...
As it is midsummer we have been hosting our annual archaeology dig at Bannockburn House. The dig began last Saturday with a group of local children excavating a mysterious hollow in the front lawn. We thought that there might have been a well there in days gone by but...
It’s been a month of Queen cells at the apiary. There are three types: swarm cells, supersedure cells and emergency queen cells. Swarm cells occur when the colony becomes congested – the old queen and about 60% of the colony form a swarm and relocate in a...
As a young girl growing up in Bannockburn my grandparents often used this phrase and I wondered if it referred to the month of May or the flowering of the May-blossom or Hawthorn. Either way, what it really means is ‘beware as the weather is often fickle at this...
Spring Blossom never ceases to amaze me. The fact that huge, sturdy, solid trees can create something so delicate, fragile and perfect as their blossom is one of the wonders of the natural world. Cherry Blossom or ‘Sakura’ is the national flower of Japan. There,...
The unseasonably warm weather this weekend meant we were able to do an early spring check on the colonies at the apiary. In three of the four hives the queens are laying well with an excellent early spring build up. Hopefully this will translate into a large...
