October on the smallholding (From Smallholder)

October on the smallholding

4:00pm Thursday 30th September 2010

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There’s a new crop to be seen in the fields of Fenland that has grown in popularity in the last few years - pumpkins for the Halloween market. The soil here (reminiscent of a giant gro bag), seems to be ideal to produce large quantities of round, perfect pumpkins, glowing gold in the autumn mist. On my smallholding we have also joined in the fun and it has been one of the most successful crops I have ever grown. When I say, “I’ve grown”, I’m think that might be overstating my case a bit as it was more a question of putting them in the pot, transplanting them to the veg patch and letting them get on with it, noting from time to time how well they were doing.

During the dry weather I did water them and I am a great believer in feed but they were on a plot that had been well manured anyway. I had thought in terms of pumpkin pickle, pumpkin soup and of course pumpkin pie but I am beginning now to think of putting some outside the gate and getting in a little bit of cash for this rewarding crop. In this issue we take a look at the many different varieties on offer so you can make your choice for next year.

And it’s the start of another school year – I’m a Governor of our local school and so much has changed since I went to school, mainly for the better. The increasing emphasis on growing both in and out of the classroom and the fresh new look at school meals has brought schools right into the twenty first century but with also a considerable link to the past because in many ways, we are just returning to our roots so to speak.

When I wrote the first of two articles on school growing, I was amazed at the many opportunities there are for schools to get involved with this new movement but not at all surprised at the children and students’ enthusiasm for it. As I’ve said in the article, my school life would have been altogether happier (and longer) if I could have looked forward to helping out on the school farm or garden. Bees on the move Yet again this year my partner failed to fill in the crack around our bathroom waste pipe that had attracted some enthusiastic bees back in 2007. I was actually abroad at the time (cue panic phone calls, “Liz, Liz, your bees are in the bathroom, what are you going to do?” Er, not a lot really as I am on a Greek Island with no plane back until the weekend….) In Spring this year another enthusiastic little bunch of buzzers found the crack and took up residence giving me a few options – destroy them (not an option), pull up the floor boards and remove as much of the colony and the queen as possible and put into a hive, fit a one way valve and put another hive on offer (as per Bill Turnbull’s excellent book, “The Bad Beekeepers Club” or live with them. Typically I chose none of these.

Instead I put an empty nucleus box on top of the flat roof that is under the bathroom window, adjacent to the crack and placed some drawn comb and even a bit of comb with honey inside. Within a week or so the nuc was fully occupied. But what’s that? There are still bees going in and out of the crack in the bathroom. Yep I had successfully caught another swarm. After a few weeks I thought I had better go and investigate. This means climbing a rather rickety ladder and then climbing on the roof, using a climbing board, in complete bee keeper’s outfit, clutching a smoker and hive tool while my partner is hanging on the ladder asking how much longer I am going to be. No, there are no pictures! The nuc, I was pleased to note, was full. Time to get a hive (brood box only) and transfer the bees, leaving the new hive on the roof as you have to move working bees either 3 feet or 3 miles and my modest apiary is about 500 yards away. The plan then was to move the hive from the roof in mid winter (when you can move them) to my other hives. In typical bad beekeeper style I had run out of brood frames so had to order and make up some more. Also my rather mixed bunch of hives which include National, WBC and Dadant were struggling to make a complete set so it was a National until you get to the lid which is a Dadant. (Note to new beekeepers – whichever type of hive you choose to use, stick to one sort).

By the time I came back to putting the hive on the roof a week later it had rained. Really rather hard. And that’s when we discovered the guttering had collapsed. My partner who will have to do this because otherwise it will cause a big damp patch in our kitchen, pointed out that it might be harder to do this with a hive of bees literally in front of the guttering. On to plan B. Take the nuc hive over to a bee keeping friend, Richard, who is not a bad bee keeper like myself but in fact is a very good bee keeper indeed and although comparatively new to bees, is knowledgeable, thorough and practical.

“Seal the holes with sponge, strap the hive parts together and put it in the vehicle and bring it over, after about 8pm when they have stopped flying,” he advised.

So we did. Except our hive had about 15 holes in it and looked like it had cut itself shaving after we had plugged every hole. I wouldn’t let Mick put the nuc in the boot of the car so we put them in the back of the Discovery, covered in a net curtain (just in case) and me in my bee keeping stuff, Mick and a not so convinced at being near a number of potentially stinging insects friend set off together with several thousand girls and boys to the Cambridge area.

The bees were delivered safely and I will be collecting them in a few weeks (to adhere to the 3 feet or 3 miles rule). On the way home we stopped at a pub and as I entered (Mick made me take off my bee keeping stuff), I realised that I still had on my fetching cheap green wellies with jeans tucked into them a la bee keeping. Luckily all the drinkers were too polite to stare.

I’m having a short break with a much admired bee keeper soon and I am going to be taking a selection of bee keeping books to see if my steep learning curve for bees can go up a gear. She thinks she is going to have a relaxing weekend. I think she is going to be answering all my many bee keeping questions so I can get my three colonies through the winter safely which is my overall aim for this year. Oh and I shall be at the National Honey Show (which is previewed in this issue of Smallholder), trying to pick up more tips!

Liz is reading The Lore of the Honey Bee written in 1901 by Tickner Edwards and A year on a Dairy Farm by Richard Cornock (which will be featured in Smallholder magazine nearer Christmas). She's hoping to go and see Tamara Drew and is off to Scotland for the Wigtown Book Festival on the 1 October where she will be talking about her book - Self Sufficiency.