Today has probably been the first chilly morning, the temperature is beginning to turn. However, it is dry and sunny, so a chance to gather in some of the nuts.
We have a small young nut orchard with cultivated varieties. Primarily, hazel nuts, but also walnuts and sweet chestnuts.
Before Mr & Mrs Squirrel take my hazel nuts, I thought I would get in there first and pick them.
The walnuts and chestnuts aren’t quite ready yet, so will leave them for another day.
As we move toward the winter months, the hive is beginning to prepare for the colder weather. Having gathered their honey as winter food to keep them going until the first spring flowers, the winter bees are beginning to emerge.
If you look closely, you can see some bees just poking their heads out of their cell. They are removing the capping from the cell where the egg was laid and they have transformed into a bee. Once emerging they will join the rest of the colony.
These new bees are potentially the bees that will take the colony through the winter until early spring. Winter bees tend to live for 5 months, whereas the bees hatched out in spring and summer live for about 6 weeks!
I have a two acre field, I really want to turn into (revert to?) wildflower meadow. How do you do it? Can anyone help?
It seems really complicated and expensive.
Done the research over a few years and got the facts, just spent £40 on seed! (mixture of perennial and annual from Pictorial Meadows #PictorialMeadows) only does 10 square metres. 2 acres is equivalent to 8,000 square metres …… so at a price of £32,000 …. not really achievable????
A lot of money, but it needs to be done right, so hopefully this autumn we will get started. I then just need to work out how to do it affordably over the next 5 years ….. yes a 5 year project ….
#RHSGardensRosemoor have stared a wild flower meadow, and it is looking good. They are just down the road, if they are reading, perhaps someone could help out, after all we are members. I could pay in honey, vegetables or fruit ….. but I suppose that is coals to Newcastle???
Anyone any thoughts on how we can do this in an environmental way, for little cost, to achieve a native meadow.
I have just collected this nice little swarm of Honey Bees from a building site in Barnstaple.
I got a call from the Site Manager. The bees had been clustering underneath some scaffolding since yesterday. Conveniently located at ground level, I put them in a box and brought them back to our isolation apiary.
Remember, if you have a Honey Bee Swarm that needs collecting and the swarm is in the local area of Bickington or Fremington, contact me. My details are below, or go to my webpage: https://chilcottsfarm.co.uk/bees/local-swarm-collector/ to find out more and to check it is a Honey Bee Swarm.
Contact me if you have a Honey Bee Swarm that you need removing:
Telephone: 07403 311920
Or, email me using the form below:
If I am not available, or you need a Swarm Collector for another area, please go to the British Beekeepers website and put in your post code: https://www.bbka.org.uk/swarm This will provide a list of Honey Bee Swarm Collectors near to you.
If you have had a Honey Bee Swarm collected and wish to make a voluntary donation toward expenses, please complete the form below:
The geese have finished laying for this year, so we no longer have goose eggs for sale. We have a broody goose sitting on the last eggs laid, so maybe some spring goslings? Hopefully more goose eggs available from late February next year.
We still have plenty of duck eggs for sale. Please knock if you want to buy.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed a couple of bees flying from the hive and returning with pollen. It looked like cherry blossom pollen, perhaps from the blackthorn that had started to flower in the hedge rows.
Anyway, the last couple of days, which have been very warm and bright, the bees have been flying and coming back with loads of pollen. In addition, the cherry and plum blossom in the orchard is covered in bees.
Hopefully the weather will remain kind to the bees, and this year’s fruit trees will be well pollenated and produce a bumper harvest of fruit.
This is a meal in-itself. Soft boiled goose egg. Boiled to perfection, soft white, and creamy yolk.
This is how we did it:
We have goose eggs for sale. About 3 times the size of chickens eggs, they are a meal in themselves.
Local collection only.
Goose eggs are truly distinctive being almost three times the size of a hen’s egg! We have three girls that typically lay from the beginning April through to the end of May.
Price is per egg, minimum order of 2 eggs.
CLICK & COLLECT only. Buy online and schedule a time to pick-up.
Card payments only online. 
Find us here …….
Having a more pronounced flavour than a hens egg, but slightly milder than a duck egg. A Goose egg is simply a meal in itself eaten boiled, scrambled, or fried and shared. As with all eggs they can be used as an ingredient in baked dishes such as gratins and quiches or as the base for the finest Yorkshire pudding.
Our Geese lay their eggs between Spring and early Summer by free roaming in our fields. With access to grass all year round and free to roam, they produce the most delightful eggs with deep orange yolks!
Goose eggs can be used in exactly the same way as chicken eggs. The only difference is their size. About 3 to 4 times the weight of a chicken egg, they can be used in cooking in the same way. If a recipe is asking for 3 eggs, one goose egg may do.
Examples of use for goose eggs:
Our Geese are kept naturally, predominantly eating fresh grass. In February, in preparation for egg laying, we may supplement their feed with a premium quality specialist goose breeders feed.
At this time of year, the grass can be low in nutrition, and supplementing their feed provides necessary minerals and vitamins in preparation for the laying season and the number of goose eggs they can produce.
Unlike many keepers of geese, we feed all of our birds on quality premium food, containing natural ingredients that contain no Genetically Modified crops or chemical additives.
| Availability | Normally available February to June, Seasonal |
|---|---|
| Life Style | Access to Grass All Year Round, Given Free Range to Roam |
| Origin | Produced in Devon, United Kingdom |
| Weight | Average weight approximately 160 grams each |
| Allergy Advice | Eggs |
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