A SWARM IN MAY IS ...

..worth a load of hay

HAPPY & relieved

 THERE is a proverb in 17th century bee-keeping circles that a swarm in May is worth a load of hay which means that it is worth far more than a swarm of honeybees later in the year when there's less time to collect pollen from blossoming flowers.
 So imagine my delight when I spotted not one but two swarms while out walking in the woods; although I suspect at least one may originate from my apiary.
 Still, the excitement of actually trapping and capturing my first ever swarm could barely be contained and so I made a flurry of phone calls to all of my mates in the beekeeping world ... not one answered their phone. I was well and truly on my own.
 In panic mode I checked the many reference books I have and decided there was nothing for it but to go out and do it myself.

SWARM BALL of bees clinging to a 

Rhododendron branch

 Since hubby was not around this was going to be a difficult task and so I went for simplicity and armed myself with nothing more than a pair of sharp scissors, a brush and two plastic boxes containing frames of wax.

   Choosing to leave the smoker behind since I was banking on the bees being in an exceptionally happy mood ... and they were. Before bees decide to clear off they empty the hive of all honey supplies by drinking the stuff until they're so full. By the time they're airborne they're so bloated that it's virtually impossible to bend their bodies and use their stings; that they can reach their swarm meeting point is probably a minor miracle in itself.

 The first ball-shaped swarm was hanging under the branches of an old Lebanon pine tree and I was able to literally give it a couple of tugs before it dropped in its entirety into the box.


 I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of that one but the second swarm about the shape and size of a rugby ball was even easier to get. I simply snipped the branch they were hanging from and they dropped into the waiting box. As you can see from my cheesey grin in the selfie above I was absolutely delighted.
 Both boxes are now sitting in the shade and will be put in a more permanent home once I've spoken to my mentor Alex. 
 I quite like the idea of starting up the Warre hive again or using my brand new top bar hive which I bought from a beekeeper in South Yorkshire the other day.
 Top Bar and Warre hives produce that rough cut honey on the comb that so many people enjoy.
 Which ever hive I opt for you can expect to read about it here in your favourite countryside column soon!



  

AS PROUD AS A PEACOCK

..& as sick as a Peahen

YOLK CLUES: Sticky yellow

feathers underneath

PHILOMENA: Pale & disinterested

A COUPLE of my beautiful peahens are causing some angst at the moment. Victoria, my Indian Blue disappeared nearly three weeks ago and there can only be two possible reasons ... yes, you've guessed it, that flaming fox again. Although hubby has scoured the land looking for any telltale signs of a smash and grab and has found nothing to indicate she was snatched, attacked or killed. The other solution could be that she has made a nest and is sitting on some eggs. Sometimes I think I hear her screeching as dusk approaches but I've not seen her. Only time will tell but the next few weeks are going to be anxious ones.

 Meanwhile, one of my white peahens, Philomena, has been out of sorts the last couple of days and I think she has had egg trouble. At least that's the conclusion drawn by a really nice bloke called Martin who breeds and sells peafowl from his farm in Ormskirk, Lancashire. Here is his website: http://www.browfarm.co.uk/peafowl/  I bought my Indian Blues from him last year and called him a few hours ago to ask his advice. Although I didn't buy my three whites from him he was happy to listen and counsel on what might be the problems. We think Philomenia has just started laying but two days ago her wings started drooping and she moved very slowly with each step being made in an extra cautious way. You can see by her expression (above) she doesn't look happy.

DROOPY wings are a tell-tale sign all is

not well with white peahen

HAPPY FAMILIES: Albert looks on as 'droopy' Philomena

is comforted by her two companions (centre and far right)

 On closer inspection I noticed her undercarriage was sticky and yellowy as though she'd sat on some egg yolk and that might not be too far from the truth. Martin reckons she's just started laying and may be one of the eggs didn't have a shell ... I know that's happened to my hens before. Or, it could be that an egg has cracked inside her. The good news is that she's covered in what could be yolk underneath which means whatever was inside her is now coming out. I would have put her in isolation until she recovers but the other peafowl seem to be comforting her in her hour of need.
 There's very little I can do other than give her a high protein diet and she has started to nibble at her food which is another good sign.

 Obviously I will keep you up to date with any changes and if you can throw in some advice please do. Feedback is always welcome.

GETTING A BUZZ FROM BEES

..And not a sting!

BEEKEEPING Is relatively easy but when things go wrong they can go really wrong and I was caught up in a rather nasty experience just the other day ... happily for me I was more on the sidelines and not in the thick of it for once.

 But this is a salutory tale and shows when SH one T happens it can happen to the most experienced of beekeepers.

 Wanting to build up my stock I was scanning various sites to find if any beekeepers had a colony or two for sale and there, right in my native County Durham, was a chap who had two.

 We agreed a very reasonable price and I arranged to pick up the bees and set about preparing the colonies for departure; they were black bees which have a reputation for being a tad more volatile than other strains like my cuddly Buckfasts.

STEADFAST & FRIENDLY: Buckfast bees like the ones from

my apiary above, are known for their good temperament

 As I headed to collect the bees I made a call and his frantic wife garbled the word "trouble" adding that "they're going crazy, I can't let the children out and they're bouncing off the windows."

 Initially I thought she was having problems with the kids and wondered what a set of rowdy young'uns had to do with me. Apart from hoping her double glazing would not crack under the strain of these lively offspring I was rather bemused by our conversation.

 When the penny finally dropped it transpired the kids weren't going crazy but the bees were and in the interests of everyone's safety the garden was under lockdown while the president of the local beekeeping association went along to check out the situation.

 My new best friend the beekeeper had been trying to gather one colony which had decided to swarm when the second colony of black bees suddenly erupted and went in to psycho mode just like on the film Swarm about a killer strain of bees.

 Try as he might he was unable to pacify them and following advice from fellow beekeepers he had to do the unthinkable and destroy the entire colony by fire. As he told me the story I felt so sorry for him although he seemed more concerned that I would be upset at losing the promise of two colonies.

 Quite what triggered the incident is still a mystery but bees are incredibly sensitive to smells and they communicate with each other using alarm pheromones.As long as they can smell/communicate with their queen most bees are happy but hives can turn testy when they become queenless.

 However these bees were out and out psycho. His fellow beekeepers thought the killer behaviour could've been triggered by a certain species of orchid or flower which can trigger an alarm pheromone while someone else thought it could be some type of nectar which has a seven day kicking in process before the bees turn nasty.

 I've heard compost heaps which are constantly in some sort of fermenting process could do it with byproducts of smelly compounds such as n-Butanol and Isoamyl acetate. If they produce a pong which can mimic a bee's alarm pheromones that could cause them to attack.

  Whatever happened I am heartily sorry for the beekeeper who lost two colonies but I am eternally grateful I did not get the bees just before they turned psycho.

 However, it got me thinking. I wonder how I could trigger such a reaction in my bees everytime the fox appears - a swarm attack like that would see him off once and for all.

 In the meantime if you know anyone with a spare colony of bees to sell do let me know - but I would prefer nice, happy clappy bees. 

TURKEYS OUTFOXED

 Home, home on the range ... where the turkeys and Mr Fox play

STUFFED: No more turkeys for the fox

like the one above.

 I BOUGHT some Bronze Norfolk turkeys last autumn, cute little things barely three weeks old.
 So far I've resisted naming them and so my plans to produce some free range birds for the table were going well.
 Corn fed every morning I've let out the birds so they can roam freely until about an hour before dusk. The weather has been brilliant these last few days and they've really enjoyed themselves having dust baths and stalking around the undergrowth.
 However, every day for the last three days a bird has disappeared and the culprit was spotted hanging around today, bold as brass and in broad daylight.
 A young fox, who probably has his own cubs to feed, is now looking like the prime suspect responsible for the daring day time raids on my small-holding.
 Foxes normally go in for mass killings but this sly dog has embarked on a hit and run exercise leaving no evidence or trail or even feathers.
 I can either keep the birds locked up in a dark stable or let them roam free until Mr Fox takes the very last one. Neither option is desirable and so we've decided to slaughter the birds since they've all reached a good weight anyway.
 As hubby said: "I'm damned if we've reared them to feed that bloody fox." He-who-should-be-obeyed-but-rarely-is is now busy sharpening his knife while I give my birds their last feed.

ONE EGG - BIG ASK

.. Or Vera's Dilemma

PROUD PARENTS: Jack & Vera last year with

Peewee before he mysteriously disappeared

 THERE'S a really sad drama unfolding in the goose house as Vera sits on her nest. Originally she had laid 16 eggs and there were high hopes of our own gaggle of goslings wreaking havoc this summer.
 Now she is making her lone vigil with all her hopes of being a mother again pinned on just one egg.
Quite why the other eggs have proved to be dud is a bit of a mystery; either Jack the gander is firing blanks or Vera has been off the nest for too long during one of her breaks.
 Last year the Toulouse goose managed to hatch only one egg successfully although several other goslings had emerged but were abandoned. That one gosling, named Peewee, was Jack and Vera's pride and joy and onlooker Bluebell acted like a surrogate mum.
 Sadly Peewee simply disappeared one day just as his real feathers were pushing through. We don't know how or why he was taken or by what or whom. All we know is that the adult geese were inconsolable and they had been
so protective it is hard to imagine how he was taken.
 Now it looks as though another tragic story will emerge
and I just wish I didn't feel so helpless. All of their
hopes are pinned on one egg. I will keep you up to date over the next few days but if you know anything about rearing geese please tell me what you think has happened and is it too late for her to sit on any more eggs.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

... Or joining in the halal furore

IT WAS THE Sun ‘wot dunnit’ this time when it, and the Daily Mail, reignited the food debate on Halal meat after it emerged that Pizza Express serves Halal chicken. Now a series of big supermarket chains have admitted to selling similar products without informing the consumer that certain meats are halal.

Notwithstanding the fact half the nation was consuming horse meat without knowing it, it’s hardly surprising there’s been genuine outrage over this story. We all have a right to know exactly what we are eating, from where it is sourced and the method by which it reached our tables. However, two issues must be highlighted in this foodie brouhaha which has exploded out of all proportion. The first, widely discussed one focusses on the animal rights aspect of the story. The second – less prominent yet, in some ways, far more sinister – issue is to do with how the media has managed to turn this whole discussion into another opportunity for whipping up even more hatred towards Muslims – and, by default, Jews (since they, too, eat religiously-slaughtered meat).

The Royal Society for the Protection Against Cruelty to Animals makes no distinction between pre-stunned halal meat and conventionally-slaughtered meat. In either case, stunning an animal involves discharging an electric shock – and yes, this involves a degree of pain. Indeed, stunning was introduced not as a more humane way of killing animals, but for the safety and benefit of slaughterhouse staff tasked with preparing the animals for slaughter.

So to the animal lovers I would say: if you are really concerned about the preparation of meat and insist the animal you eat suffers no pain at all then it is time to turn your back on the meat industry and become vegan or vegetarian.

Moreover, the corporate meat market is worth billions of pounds, employs thousands and is seen as a vital arm of the British food industry. Religious slaughter or not, it is up to the consumer to make an informed choice on the issue – but don’t call for the banning of Halal meat just because you don’t like Muslims. Sadly this latest media scrap has mixed the issues to such an extent that it is becoming difficult to untangle these two distinct threads.

When Adolf Hitler came to power, one of his first actions, in 1933, was to ban kosher food. In this context, the latest rants against “Muslim food” smack of the same rhetoric deployed by the Nazis against “Jewish food”. Those who dismiss the Islamophobic tone of anti-Halal hysteria do so at their peril. Islamophobia is very real, as real as anti-semitism, and we all know where that led in 1930s Europe.

The reason I’m taking such an interest in the issue is that I live on a farm in the Scottish Borders and have started keeping livestock – my turkeys, geese and hens run around on a free-range basis and, despite losing some stock to a pesty fox (and I doubt he’s that bothered about the pain and distress he causes), they seem very happy with their lot.

(to read more of this article and the conclusion please go to Ceasefire online magazine

http://yvonneridley.org/analysis-and-opinion/the-halal-debate-some-food-for-thought