Enjoying the garden as the day comes to a close on the day of the Platinum Jubilee!
Tag: devon
Christmas Tree ? Freshly Cut
Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Just cut a couple of trees from our Christmas tree field. All home grown and carried a few metres to the ?. Can’t get much more low carbon than that!
Bees are out collecting the summer honey
The weather has not been bad or good, but the bees are out at every opportunity.
The summer flowers are blossoming, and we are hoping for a good honey harvest come August!
Another May new buds and flowers shall bring
“Another May new buds and flowers shall bring: Ah! why has happiness no second Spring?” – Charlotte Turner Smith
This spring certainly keeps bringing. The weather continues to be fantastic for the bees. The recent rain has been welcome. This enables the plants to draw up water and increase the nectar flow in the flowers.
In turn this ensures the bees supply continues to come.
The hives are still doing well, and the bees continue to build up their honey stores. Hopefully at the end of May, I’ll be able to harvest the first honey crop of 2020
The Best April Ever for Bees?
I’ve been keeping bees for 10 years, and I don’t remember an April like it.
The warm dry weather here in Devon, has definitely benefited the bees. They have been out and about every day. The blossom is flourishing and producing the good stuff …. nectar and pollen.
In the garden, the old apple trees, are buzzing. The buzz from the trees provides a background hum to the whole garden. It literally sounds like a swarm of bees is somewhere settling.
The hives are bursting. The workforce has been busy taking advantage of nature’s bounty.
The bees have been so productive that the hives are filled with honey and I have had to make more room for them to store their harvest.
All I need to do now is manage them from swarming and taking their produce away!
Barnstaple History
We have done a lot of work to the house and the out buildings. Moving a lot of stone, roof tiles and bricks we have discovered all sorts of things, including little pockets of history.
Most of the bricks and roof tiles which were stacked up appeared to have been from outbuildings that had fallen into ruin. Most of the bricks and tiles were unmarked or branded. Interestingly we have found a batch of roof tiles & the odd brick stamped with Lauder & Smith Brick & Tile Works, Barnstaple.
It turns out this tile works was about 3 miles away from Chilcotts Farm in an area of Barnstaple called Pottington. The pottery was in business for 38 years from 1876 to 1914.
I am guessing the start of the First World War in 1914, was the reason for the demise of the company.
We haven’t researched the age of the property, but we thought it was mid 1800s. The farm house, isn’t built of bricks, but rather a rubble construction with render. I am guessing the Lauder & Smith bricks and tiles were brought in at a later date and used for an outbuilding.
Good Friday Breakfast
Even though we are in lockdown, it could be worse! The weather is fantastic! The sun and warmth maybe shining in through the windows, or you have the opportunity to sit outside ….. it could be worse ….. it could be raining!
This morning we sat outside and had a lovely breakfast with homemade jam made with homegrown fruit!
Beautiful Mornings!
The mornings over the past few days have been crisp, bright and warm!
Letting the animals out is even more of a joy when the weather is so gorgeous. You forget what is going on in the world.
After all, they don’t have a clue and every new day is another adventure.
Preparing for Season
Spring is gathering momentum, and the spring blossom is beginning to erupt with flower buds bulging and about to explode. The bees are out and about on warm days looking for blossom and sources of water.
I am frantically trying to get prepared. This new hive is ready to hopefully house another colony of bees in the coming months.
I still need to put together loads of frames to replace old wax, but also to allow for expansion and new colonies. Not much time left, but I am sure it will come together and we will be ready.
Bees are Springing into Action
We have had so much rain in the UK, but North Devon, although wet, seems to have got off lighter than some parts of the country!
In the dryer, warmer spells, the bees have managed to get out and collect pollen. They are returning to the hive with their pollen baskets loaded up with mainly orange and yellow pollen at the moment.
If anyone is interested, I have written a small guide on the colour of pollen and the flowers the bees have been visiting in North Devon. See: https://chilcotts.farm/bees/local-pollen-guide/