Let it bee

 In the way that fate or chance often intervenes in things I had a phone call the day after my last post. It was from the man from the ministry. Well, it was from the bee inspector from DEFRA and he was checking all hives in the area for a disease called American Foul Brood (AFB). Sadly this horrendous affliction has now worked its way this far west but as we had no brood the likelihood of us being targeted was remote. When he heard our tale of woe however he said he'd come the next day to have a look at our hives for us. The swarm we'd picked up on Wednesday had no queen with it and we got the message that the remainder took off later so there was no point in returning to retrieve the rest of them. The bee inspector confirmed all of our hives were queenless and suggested we put all three into one. Now two hives put together will fight it out but apparently three or more thrust together are so shocked and confused they often pull together. It doesn't alter the fact that our bees will ultimately die but it might help stave off the inevitable for a while longer. So now there's only one hive left but the bee inspector is on the look out for another queen or some brood for us whilst he's on his travels but the main season is drawing to a close so we may have to draw a line under it for this year and think long and hard about next year.

We had another call about a swarm last night but this one is in the gutter of a house so my husband passed and gave them a number of someone else. I think he's had enough hassle for this season but he salvaged some of the comb made by the bees from my friend's mum's compost bin to pass back to her. The pristine pieces show the immaculate engineering these fabulous creatures are capable of. Look at those precision made hexagons. Just amazing. The dark spots in the lower piece shows the pollen that the bees had already started to collect and these pieces are bought by companies who want the raw materials to make candles. Somehow I doubt there's enough here to do much with but I could melt it and use it to wax paper or fuse with other materials. If I really had a good idea on how to use it, I just might.

 Whilst we have had some sun at last we've managed to get on with a couple of jobs like clearing the garden and I found this small nest in a sheltered spot, blown down from a large conifer we have. It is dinky and fits all the descriptions of a goldfinches nest. As we had quite a number of fledgelings here this year I am sure this is where it all started for them. I cannot bear to part with these things and have added it to my little collection of garden finds.

Finally, the turn in the weather gave us an opportunity to put out a couple of moth traps this weekend. What a turnaround in numbers. Saturday night's trap yielded 23 different species and 69 moths. It might not sound a lot but it is a massive improvement in numbers for this year. I have recently given a few talks on trapping moths to groups and without fail the memory most people share is that of seeing the 'woolly bear' caterpillar in their youth. When I show them the slide of what it looks like as an adult in the form of the Garden Tiger they are surprised at its beauty, a beauty that has declined by 68% in the last 20 years. Whenever I've trapped them it has always been as single specimens. I have never seen two together so I really make sure I keep it safe and release it the following night to carry on the fight for survival. I am often enamoured of the intricate patterns and subtle colourings of moths and recently came across the blog of an artist who captures their forms quite beautifully. I found the blog via Fiona and it belongs to artist Sarah Gillespie. Do take a look.

Thanks for all the e mails and encouraging comments about the bees this year. It has been a rollercoaster ride and I shall let you know if we're going to do it all again in 2013!