The January 2010 Birmingham Allotments Newsletter gave details of a proposed talk on Sunday 14th February 2010 at Walsall Road Allotments about how to attract bees to allotments. A few of us decided to go along and see what the buzz (excuse the pun) was all about.
Dr. Adam Bates, a researcher from the University of Birmingham, discussed his work monitoring the populations of solitary and other species of bees on urban green spaces. He has been putting up bee hotels on various allotment sites in Birmingham and checking just which bees took up residence. He had several samples to show us and it was fascinating to hear and see the diverse ways bees set about nesting and laying their eggs. I particularly enjoyed the story of the “sleepy” bee which settles itself in a buttercup flower in the evening, before the flower closes, and then sets off about its business the next morning when the flower reopens. There are even species of “cuckoo bee” which lay their eggs in other bees’ nests and get them to raise their offspring. If the Association is in agreement, we may even take part in Adam’s research by playing host to a couple of Adam’s bee hotels at Court Lane Allotments. If you are interested to learn more about reporting sightings of bees and other creatures, go to ispot.org.uk
Jim Hickman from Sutton Coldfield and North Birmingham Beekeepers also answered questions about having beehives on allotments. Birmingham City Council appears to be supportive of this, provided stringent criteria are met regarding the siting and care of the hives and appropriate insurance is in place. This could be a possible venture for Court Lane Allotments. As some of our plotholders are beekeepers, it’s certainly worth considering.
On Saturday 13th February a group of Court Lane Allotmenteers gathered together for a day’s lesson on how to graft fruit trees.
The tutor for the day was Geoff Croft, an experienced nurseryman who runs Walnut Tree Nursery and has a special interest in fruit trees. After an initial chat about the history of grafting, the “biology” of fruit trees and about the different sort of rootstocks that can be used, the practical session began.
Geoff made it look very easy (which it isn’t) and we were advised to be very careful as we were using very sharp knives. We were shown how to do a “whip and tongue” graft and then had a go ourselves. There was a wonderful array of old apple varieties from which to choose. Despite a few minor accidents ( the First Aid Kit got an outing), and more than a little mess, we all managed to achieve at least one or two grafted specimens.
Time will tell how sucessful our attempts will be, but anticipation is half the fun of gardening, isn’t it? It was great fun and hopefully we will run other events of a similar nature. Though I’m not sure Ming’s lovely goretex jacket will ever recover from the experience.
The day was brilliantly organised by Rhoda who also supplied a very tasty lunch of homemade soup and rolls. Many thanks to her and to Geoff for a wonderful day.
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