July notes

by David Tidmarsh - 10:06 on 17 July 2013

Kens Nature Notes

They always say you are never too old to learn and the same goes for new experiences, because last month I saw my first ever swarm of honey bees. What an awesome sight, it was about a foot thick and two foot long; this was in a friend’s garden in Ellesmere. The task was to collect the swarm in a box and transport it to a new home, easier said than done.
Another friend of mine, Paul, got kitted up in his bee suit and accompanied by his son in-law who was suitably kitted up placed the box below the swarm and carefully held  the branch the swarm was on; cutting the branch away and giving a downward shake which dropped the queen bee and the swarm into the box. This was then sealed to maintain the swarm till the following morning. The cherry tree that the swarm had been on was then sprayed with a peppermint solution that had been made up of three polo mints to mask the scent that the queen bee had created on the cherry tree to attract the swarm. Fascinating stuff.
I also had unexpected guests in a bird box which I have had in my garden for a few years, I had relocated it to the bottom of the garden but unfortunately wasps had take up residence in it. I was first given advice on how to move it; in the evening when the wasp activity was quieter; it seemed like good advice as the wasps were still entering the hole that was cut for birds. By the time I was organised to gaffer tape the hole the wasp colony had spread outside on the front face of the box, so I had to go for plan B.
By now the wasp nest was becoming a problem and I had no alternative but to destroy the nest. I used a wasp spray which looked like shaving foam which was sprayed onto the nest and completed the task. I would have liked to have been able to have moved it rather than go for extermination but it was too risky.
Glorious weather abounds, even some Himalayan Balsam are struggling in the heat, shortly we will be trying to control this evasive weed by uprooting as much as we can but when you look around the Lumley Burn area it is an impossible task to totally eradicate, plants on the opposite side of the Burn are well into flower and will shortly be setting seed and with this type of seed dispersant it will be catapulted across to the opposite bank ready to germinate for next years Balsam Bash!
However it looks like being a good year for apples and plums, the trees in the group’s orchard are laden to breaking point, last year we had hardly any fruit on the Plum tree but this year should be good, I just got a taste for this fruit in 2011, freshly picked from the tree you couldn’t beat the taste and then 2012 was a disaster, I can certainly feel for the farmers who are battling with the extremes of climate to try and earn a living.

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