August Notes 2014

by David Tidmarsh - 12:46 on 16 November 2014

Kens Nature Notes

Quite an interesting month just gone, had my first experience of Electro fishing. This is part of the ongoing monitoring process to check on the water quality of Lumley Burn. It is showing good results by the examples of fish we found.

The process of Electro fishing involves at least two people with waders in the Burn. One has the Electro pack on his back, this is attached to a hand held rod with a metal ring on the end, this gives of a slight electric shock which momentarily stuns the fish near to the ring, the fish is then netted and passed onto the other person in the Burn who puts the catch in the bucket. This process goes on covering about 30 meters. This catch is then measured, identified and logged then released back into the Burn.

We caught Brown Trout, Eels and some Stickle backs, which prove that the work of the Wear Rivers Trust is paying off.

The bees in our Apiary are doing quite well considering the earthworks that are still going on to landscape the site we share, this movement of soil which alters the landscape can confuse bees that have been out foraging for pollen and nectar, to the extreme case of being unable to find their way back to the hive. Thankfully the majority are managing to overcome this hazard.

I am continuing with my bee keeping learning curve, which believe me is a BIG curve.

My latest training was to extract some honey from six frames from one of our hives, first we shake off the bees from the frames and then retreat quickly to the vehicle; frames were then placed into a centrifuge after the cells were cut to enable the release of honey. This produced eleven pounds of honey and it was delicious.

Lots more to learn of course and I think with Bee keeping you will always be learning.

Grass is still growing fast and I have completed my third cut of the footpath from the Floaters mill to Callington close, Himalayan Balsam is of course out of control; and as I write these notes, seeds will be exploding in all directions for next years growth.

Fruit in the orchard at the allotments are swelling nicely and it should be a good crop of apples again this year.

Wildflowers that were planted earlier in the year have been doing really well and their seed will be about to drop ready to germinate for a flush of flowers next year.

I passed a few Hazel trees last week and it looks like being a good harvest for the Hazel nuts, I will be looking forward to collecting the nuts to sow later. It is tricky knowing when to stop collecting seed and nuts as I love propagating new trees.

Poppies that have been planted to commemorate the hundred years since the start of the first world war have done really well, quite a few villages have been lucky enough to have seen these growing in their area, even though it is a sad reminder of the thousands of people that lost their lives in the war.

Just waiting for the rain to stop before I start my collecting. Ken.

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