Getting the Kids Involved

It’s all getting a bit quiet in the Lush apiary. But of course there’s still work to be done. Not least the extraction of honey! That’s what it’s all about, right! Well for some (most) beekeepers it really is. I’m coming more and more to realise that the honey prize just isn’t so important to me. Sure I want to chase that jar of liquid gold, but more so I just want the bees in my hives to survive. And thrive.

The first and the best – my Green Queen

So I’ve been thinking and reading more and more about natural beekeeping, as opposed to conventional beekeeping. Natural beekeeping is more bee-centred than conventional and, while much of the practice is the same, there are some strong elements that allow the bees to do most of the work by themselves and for themselves, without much intervention or manipulation by we humans. I’m learning, but it may be the way forward. Not sure what Mr Lush is going to think about not harvesting honey, though. I may end up with a section of conventional hives, and a small area of more bee-centred practice just to see what works.

Of the five hives that I have now, one is most certainly queenless. I’ve tried introducing two frames of eggs now but there’s no sign of a hatched queen. That’s not to say she’s not there, but I’m not reckoning on it. Next step for that one is deciding what to do about it before the season ends, which is in about a month.

The second anomaly is my beautiful green queen. The first and the original. She’s still in the poly nuc and doing really well. The remaining three are just wonderful – full, thriving and with lots of eggs. My worry had been that they weren’t clipped, but last week we managed to get two of them pinned down. Sadly it wasn’t me who clipped them, but at least it’s done now. There’s no getting away now!

But by far the most exciting development is the rise of my new assistant! Yes, Izzy’s decided she wants to get involved and since we got her a beesuit she’s been coming to club with me (they just love getting the kids involved).

This weekend I introduced her to my own bees. She hasn’t been stung yet so things could change, but as it stands, we have ourselves a little apiarist!

The Great 2016 Staycation

Sitting atop the Devil’s Pulpit, Offa’s Dyke

Before we moved to the great Forest of Dean, we came on a couple of summer holidays here. And one of the ways I convinced myself that it was a good idea, was that being here would be like always being on holiday in this idyllic environment.

Two years on, I make sure that I drive, walk or cycle through the forest daily so that I never fail to appreciate quite how beautiful it is, at any time of year.

So this summer heralds the Great Lush Staycation! We decided that we’d rather discover more of south Wales and the Forest, rather than travel in search of beauty elsewhere.

So far it’s been a blast; we’ve climbed Pen-Y-Fan mountain ( the highest in southern Britain), diced with the devil on the Offas Dyke ancient path at the beautiful Devil’s Pulpit overlooking Tintern Abbey, toured the Welsh valleys, taken in Tintern Abbey ( for about the tenth time, but I can never get bored of it), and revisited Symonds Yat.

On Yat Rock

Symonds Yat

On Top of the World!

Pen Y Fan

Corn Du, nearly Pen Y Fan

Even that doesn’t get old – we had our lovely friends over and thought their little five year old would love the ancient hand ferry. As the Saracens Head Inn was packed – it’s becoming too popular, that place – we ventured over to the Ye Old Ferrie Inn, or Yofi as they call it now. Apparently Yofi means beauty in Hebrew, so that’s pretty apt, too. Anyway, what a great pub! It’s got a fabulous garden terrace with lawn and tables and the food is fabulous as well as being very well-priced. Even on a hot and very busy summer’s day, the food came fast and the service was superb.

The old hand ferry back across the river at that point is cheaper than the one at the Saracens Head so it’s bonus points all round! After hiking back to the top of the rock, it was time for more food at the great little cafe at the top before showing Jo and Bertie the view from the top of the rock. Or Potter’s flypast as I like to call it due to the Harry Potter film in which he flies on his broom down the valley.

All this just a stone’s throw from home.

Did I mention that I still love living in the forest?!!

Tomorrow we’re off to the waterfalls…