We’ve had a sabbatical!

Posted by Jon on May 13, 2012 in About us | 0 comments

Our new baby!

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last few months – real life took its toll and we had a business to launch that has taken up every waking hour it seems! If you would like to see what we’ve been up to then you can check out our magazine Living Poitou-Charentes which we now publish every other month.

But we haven’t been ignoring our bees, we just haven’t had the time to blog about them so we hope to make amends over the coming summer.

Jon and Kathryn

Protecting your home

Posted by Jon on May 5, 2011 in Beekeeping, Swarms & Nests | 1 comment

The unseasonably warm weather that we have been experiencing has meant that the  phone has been constantly ringing over the past month. I wish I could say that I was out, happily picking up swarms hanging from branches in trees but not so. In fact, I’ve only had one external pick up, the rest of the calls have been from home owners with bees where they don’t want them.

Wild plums

Posted by Jon on Mar 30, 2011 in Beekeeping, Moths & Butterflies, Wild bees | 0 comments

Our wild plums have been fantastic this year – the great weather has meant that we have had a full 3 weeks of sequential blooms getting the bees off to a flying start.

Wasp season starts

Posted by Jon on Mar 28, 2011 in Wasps | 0 comments

Another insect that likes Box is the paper wasp and it too has been bought out by the recent warm weather. They overwinter in groups and at times, we saw up to 50 individuals on the Box hedge.

Generally, these wasps do not attack people unless their nest is threatened so as long as they are away from busy areas, they can be safely left to keep the garden free of aphids and other unwelcome insects.

Ashy Mining Bee

Posted by Jon on Mar 27, 2011 in Wild bees | 0 comments

Earlier in the season we disturbed a little Ashy Mining bee whilst doing some earthworks around the house. Our dry, crumbly earth  has been disturbed in many places by our resident moles, providing the perfect habitat for several types of mining bees. We’ve been having a great start to Spring here (hence the lack of posts!) so all the bees are out and preparing for the year ahead.