Yesterday I was on my allotment when Lin and Bob (Plot 10a) called me over to their plot. They had lifted a tarpaulin to find a grassy nest with a mother hedgehog and at least one baby hedgehog tucked inside. Needless to say, they replaced the tarpaulin to allow the mother peace and quiet to raise her baby (babies).
Whilst I appreciate the excellent work hedgehogs do in controlling slugs, I completely understand that some plot holders also use slug pellets to help protect their veggies from the munching hordes. It would be good if everybody could only use wildlife-friendly slug pellets on their plots to minimise the risk that hedgehogs might be poisoned through eating poisoned slugs or the pellets themselves. Hedgehog Rescue gives more information on this as well as suggesting several other ways for controlling slugs using natural methods.
The most famous hedgehog hospital is St. Tiggywinkles. Their factsheet about hedgehogs and what we can do to help is both interesting and informative. For example, did you know that baby hedgehogs are called “URCHINS”? I certainly didn’t.
Here’s hoping our own little Tiggywinkles grow up to be healthy slug-eating machines.
We have a Flickr account that is used to display photos that have been taken of events and other images of the allotment site. Flickr not only allows you to upload your own photos, but it also allows you to look at other people’s too.
It has become standard internet practice to use “tags” on a lot of publicly viewable web content (such as photos), which means that you can find specific content in a smooth(ish) and rapid(ish) manner.
I’ve searched for the tag “allotments” on Flickr and discovered some really interesting imagery. There are a lot of people in the UK (and the rest of the world), who like to have photographic memories of their plots.
If you have any photos that you wish to have on our Flickr site, then please contact us. Alternatively, if you already have a Flick account, then feel free to join our group pool.
Julian is a Master Beekeeper and has kept bees for over 30 years. He also gives lectures on beekeeping as well as judging Honey Shows and was recently co-opted to the Education and Husbandry Committee of the British Beekeepers’ Association.
He gave a brief desription of other pollinating insects such as bumble bees, solitary bees and wasps, before going on the describe the lifecycle of the honey bee, the yearly cycle of what goes on inside a honey bee colony and then how beekeepers interact with them to manage a colony of bees throughout the year. He then invited everyone to have a closer look at the observation hive and described to us what was going on. As a newly qualified beekeeper, it was useful to have an update in a nutshell and I hope it was of interest to those who wanted to know more about these fascinating insects.
Not many people know that when honey bees swarm they are actually at their most docile. Beekeepers have been known to put their bare hand into a swarm of bees without harm (though it not advised for an untrained person to attempt to do the same). Julian told us of his daughter who, as a small child, would fearlessly help him with beekeeping tasks, wearing only a summer dress and a beekeeping veil.
He also went on to describe the wonderfully named “waggle dance” whereby a bee returning from foraging will inform other bees of a nectar source by dancing in a figure of eight pattern. Research has been done to establish that the angle of the waggle run on the face of the honey comb has been shown to equate to the angle of the food source in relation to the sun. The speed and length of the waggle run determines how far away the food source is. This is something I’ve been reading up about recently, having seen bees doing it in my own garden hive.
He explained how honey bees concentrate nectar into honey by evaporating water out of it. The evaporation also helps to regulate hive temperature and humidity. The bees achieve this by fanning their wings to extract moisture from the air in a way not dissimilar to an air conditioner. I have just completed my first honey harvest from my hive at home and any honey the bees now collect, up until the end of the season, will be for them to use as their winter stores.
Before the talk, Julian had a tour of our Court Lane Allotments apiary enclosure and was very complimentary. He said it had obviously been developed with the utmost concern for the safety of both bees and plot holders and we have “an ideal set up”, which is a credit to Court Lane Allotments and our qualified beekeepers. For those of you who haven’t yet taken the opportunity to have a closer look, each hive faces a slightly different direction so that the bees won’t get confused as to which hive is theirs and there is plenty of space to work around each hive. The tree belt behind the apiary provides shelter from easterly winds. I asked Julian about the number of colonies we have at present, as I had recently been informed that a plot holder was concerned about the welfare of the bees. He commented that we have space in our apiary for up to 8 hives if we want, but Ming and I told him we were quite happy with the 4 colonies we have at the moment, which should produce some lovely honey for Court Lane Allotments next year.
Julian is very happy to discuss any further questions that anyone may have about our Court Lane Allotment bees and beekeeping in general. Anybody wishing to ask questions can contact Ming (plot 14) or myself (plot 45) or comment on this site, and we will be very happy to discuss bees. In fact, we have already been approached by one of the Court Lane plot holders who is interested in learning more about beekeeping.
Many thanks to Julian for volunteering to share with us, free of charge, his time and expertise. Those attending the talk were well provided for with free refreshments and lovely cakes baked and donated by volunteers. Any donations received went to the charity Bees Abroad which the Beekeeping Association supports.
Below is an edited video of Julian’s talk and here is the direct link to the YouTube video. Apologies for the poor sound quality.
For the last two years, we have entered displays at Kings Heath Gardeners’ Weekend (now called Birmingham Gardeners’ Show). This year, we are going to enter a stall for competition again.
We are looking for people to volunteer their time and produce to compete in the allotment section.
Everyone who has been involved in previous shows have volunteered their time and energies for free, so it would be wonderful if more plot holders could help this year.
So if you are plot holder at Court Lane and would like to help, then please feel free to contact us.
There will be a newsletter available via the wonderful medium of email. It will differ from this here blog as the information will be aimed primarily at plot holders. It will also be a way for plot holders to communicate back any ideas they may have.
It simple terms, the newsletter will be about subjects within the confines of the allotment (but not exclusively) and the blog will be a way of communicating more general information to the wider world. However, if any non plot holder would like to get the newsletter then feel free to sign up. In the future, you could a have an allotment plot of your own, so why not find out what goes on.
*Some of you may already be on the mailing list due to giving your details at events. The form will let you know that you have done so in rather loud red text. Apologies for such rudeness, but we can’t change the form to something a bit more genteel.
Our not too distant neighbours, Walsall Road Allotments, will be having their Summer Fayre on Saturday 14th August at 12pm. Admission is free and there will be activities and food to be enjoyed.
Since May of this year, we have been involved with Edible Erdington, a project where local residents are encouraged to volunteer and help grow fruit and vegetables in Erdington High Street.
This is a joint project with Court Lane Allotments & Erdington’s Artist in Residence, Eleanor Hoad, and it has been funded by Be Birmingham.
We will be in Erdington High Street every Monday from 2pm-5pm and we welcome people of all ages to come and take part or just have a chat. We are situated on the brick raised beds in-between the Co-Op and The Swan pub.
If you want further information please contact Eleanor on 07974 934917 or you can email her on eleanorhoad[at]hotmail.com. She speaks about the project in the video below.
Several plotholders have been wondering if the bees on their plots are our own honeybees or other types of bee. There is a good link on the website for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust which shows how different bees look and how to recognise the most common species in the UK.
Take some time out and see how many you can recognise.
A fun night is planned for plotholders, association members and their guests on Saturday 31st July. We have booked a folk band and there will also be pub games. Starting at 7pm, there will be a fish & chip supper (veggie pizza & chips for vegetarians).
The cost is £4 per ticket, which includes food and soft drinks. Please note, tickets are limited, so don’t delay!
Tickets are available from Ken Edmunds (site secretary) or from the Allotment Site Shop. All tickets must purchased by 28th July.
All our bee colonies appear to be thriving. Please ask Lin or Ming if you want to know more about what the bees are up to.
We are fortunate in being able to ask Julian Routh from Sutton Coldfield and North Birmingham Beekeepers to give us a talk about beekeeping. It is a FREE event (donations welcome) to all Court Lane Allotments plotholders. We are also extending the invitation to other allotment sites in the Birmingham/Sutton area.
The date for your diaries is Saturday 21st August 2010 at 2pm in the marquee at Court Lane Allotments.
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