I inspected the hive this evening. It nearly didn't happen as I couldn't get the smoker lit. Eventually it lit and Mike came out to watch from a safe distance with his camera so I have added a few of his pics in the beekeeping photo album.

 

The colony is going great guns. Plenty of honey stores, brood, eggs and lots of humming activity. They have started to draw out comb on the super and there is also brood on it so they are seemingly very happy. I was excited to actually spot her majesty the queen bee this evening and managed to get a photo although she was a little camera shy and tried to run off several times. I knew I had a queen from all the eggs and brood I have seen but she has been elusive until this evening so I was more than a little excited to not only find her but get a photo of her as well. We took an absolutely marvellous picture tonight of the pollen stores. I have never seen so many colours! It was so beautiful but looks even better in the photo. We are going to print it up and frame it and hang it in the spare room. I also allowed a photo of me in my bee suit even though it makes me look like Michellin man. As the club president says "it is all about being safe - it is not a fashion show".

 

I had to throw away my gloves this evening from all the sticky propolis. It was making manipulations very difficult as the propolis kept sticking to the frames and the tool and the jolting was mildy narking the bees which were amazingly calm considering. I managed to drop the crown board which got stuck to the super and then fell off when I was putting everything back together. Whoops. The bees were a bit narked but didn't throw themselves at my veil so they are very well behaved gentle bees. I am lucky compared to some people I have heard about! The bees were a little pissed off on Saturday when the weather was a bit "close". One chased Mike down the garden! I decided that Saturday probably wasn't the best day to do an inspection...

I bought some mushroom spawn at the weekend. Never tried growing them before but thought I would give it a go seeing as I have access to an endless supply of manure thanks to a work colleague who keeps horses. I collected 3 bags of well rotted manure tonight and filled a couple of old sink bowl with it and then sprinkled over the mushroom spawn which looked like chalky rice. Covered it with more rotted manure then watered it and covered it with damp newspaper as per packet instructions. Have popped the bowls in the potting shed where the temperature is quite stable and in a fortnight I have to remove the damp newspaper and replace it with clean soil and keep it moist and most important of all - BE PATIENT! Apparently once they start cropping they last for 3-6 months. I have only planted one packet of spawn out of the 2 so in 3 months time I will plant the next one and hopefully keep cropping for months with any luck. Now must learn patience...

We have been harvesting our own veg the last couple of weeks.  We have been eating new potatoes (the Pentland Javelins - they got the blight!), lettuce, broad beans, carrots and beetroot. We have a couple of courgettes forming so won't be long until we are munching them too. Everything is growing madly lush so I am hopeful for a decent year of veg. Fingers crossed.

I saw my first live badger last night in Eythorne by the disused level crossing. I slowed down to get a really good look as it hesitated to cross the road and then changed its mind and bounded back up the track. Amazing.

 

The other wildlife incident happened on Friday afternoon when a kestrel came down and killed one of the blackbird chicks. I heard a huge kerfuffle seemingly every blackbird in the neighbourhood was clucking and swearing alarm calls. The kestrel flew off with the chick in its clutches and I followed it to the field opposite where again it took off. I couldn't save the fledgeling unfortunately.

Last night we found lots of snails in and around the veg patch. We put them in an old tea pot overnight so they couldn't escape and this morning the chickens had "French breakfast". They were very happy chasing each other for the tasty morsels. I hate killing anything but this somehow didn't seem so bad as they became food for the chickens.

 

I'm hoping the gloomy grey clouds will clear off soon so we can tackle the weeds on the veg and ornamental parts of the garden and thus keep the slimy pests down. I mowed and edged the lawn yesterday so it looks really neat but is let down by the overgrown and weedy beds and the hedges are a bit unruly too. I also want it to warm up so I can take a look at the bees and see how they are getting on. You have to watch them carefully this time of year cos there is a gap in the flowers so they can actually starve. At the moment my colony are expanding so this is particularly critical for mine as they are using a lot of energy making wax and raising brood. My bees being Italian they tend to make big colonies so I amy need to add a super to make brood and a half before I pop a super on. I am hoping for some honey this year but it may not happen depending on the weather. My neighbours got 38 pounds off theirs last weekend and reckon they will have the same again later on so I am hopeful