New Blog

Launched a new Blog today. We have dedicated it to our allotment bees and all related goings-on!
http://longworthbees.blogspot.com

Know Your Enemy!

The first rule of war is: Know Your Enemy!

Meet 'Vespula Germanica' (The German Wasp), a member of the Wasp family, but NOT our Common Wasp! This Chap (or Chap-ess!), was found at the base of my hive at the lottie.

They just look AMAZING! and ordinarily, do a fantastic job in the countryside clearing up pest insects. But they do have this dark side to their nature at this time of the year where they invade our homes, and hives.

If you look closely, you can see what I think is a wound on it's thorax which, seems to be exuding some sort of plasma......eeeeewwwww!

Also, note the 3 eyes between the 2 main compound eyes! no wonder they can be little tricksters when you're trying to swat them!

Anyway, we now have 7 'Jam n Beer' wasp traps on the go at the apiary, all working well!

Up Close & Personal!

Following the Southern Regional Bee Disease Study Day @ Benson, I was inspired to get more 'personal' with my Bee's. Hence, I pitched in and bought a microscope, plus ancillaries!

Here are a few tentative, and not too brill' shots taken of one of my girls. She was found in the bottom of the hive, having passed on to the Summerlands, during a recent hive inspection.

After seeing her in all her magnificent glory, I have REALLY taken more of a shine to these facinating creatures! They need our help at every level! PLEASE........

Today however, I was at my 'Lottie' hive and witnessed first hand robbing by wasps. Now, i am a shooting and fishing man, and have lived almost all my life in the countryside, so do not consider myself 'fluffy' about life & death in the wild. But, what I watched broke my heart.

Dead bee's littered the grass in front of the hive, and wasp after wasp entering my hive at will. I vowed to take my revenge! So after restricting the entrance even further, to a single bee space, I stood guard! Shoulder to shoulder with my girls, swatting til my knuckles ached......and after half an hour in the rain the yellow body count was mounting!

Later on, at home, Lynne and I reflected on the scene. I was genuinely upset at the potential loss of one of my colonies, pouring over my growing library of Beekeeping books to find an answer. Lynne however, was very philosophical about the whole thing. ''Its just nature, its what wasps do.....'', true, but NOT to my new colony!

But she is right, I vowed to 'do the right thing', and find natural ways of stopping the slaughter, tho' many would call me a hypocrite, as a shooting man.

Everything on this wonderful planet lives in balance with everything else......except man. We see nothing wrong in defiling our gorgeous home, poisoning our precious wildlife, and killing each other into the bargain! Usually, because someone drew a line on a map somewhere. Well today, I stood up for the 'little guy', or in this case......my girls! They are the most gentle bee's I have encountered in over 5 years of beekeeping, and they needed a hand, plain and simple.