S.O.S

A handsome, young pheasant has taken up residence in the garden, jewel coloured plumage tops golden-chestnut tail feathers.  Resplendent in the morning sun he saunters past the bee-hives proprietarily, en route to the pond for a spot of refreshment.  He's a cool dude, unruffled by our presence and reminds me of VGP's very first tame pheasant, Elvis, who lived here with his 'mate' Pricilla when we celebrated the millennium.  They were a cheeky couple, confident, entertaining and rather partial to sunbathing on the terrace with our GSD, Roxy!

This morning, at about 4am, our slumber was disturbed by the pheasant's distinctive alarm call.  Too early to be part of the song-birds dawn chorus, he had obviously been woken by a visitor to the garden. I wondered who could be lurking in the shadows at such an early hour?  Three subsequent alarm calls alerted the whole garden to the presence of an interloper; the threat of imminent danger.  'Son of Elvis', as we like to call him, retires each night at the top of steps under the safety of a pittosporum bush; warm, cosy and tucked away from the view.  Perhaps he spotted Mr Fox slipping in through the deer-fence to visit the pond for an early morning tipple. Or maybe it's a sign that a barn owl has taken up residence in the new owl-box, now that really would be headline news...

Prolonged winter weather is having a devastating effect on the local wildlife, barn owls are being forced to hunt in daylight because their food staple, warm mammals, has been depleted by the sodden land.  I have seen several weak, emaciated birds, weighing as little as 250 grammes,  on my walks through the woods.  Desperate measures are called for in their fight for survival.  Juicy earth worms, Badger's favourite delicacy, are in short supply as continued late frosts make the ground impenetrable, even with their powerful claws!  Perhaps 'Son of Elvis' is making a plea on behalf of all his woodland friends, an SOS, imploring us to open our eyes and listen to their plight.  This is a call to arms asking us to help the natural world ... before it is too late...

Easter Parade

"Bee suit - gloves - smoker - camera - bee-diary!"  All present and correct... let the Easter Parade begin.
 A frisson of tension mingled with expectation and curiosity fills the air - Have our 2012 Buckfast Queens survived the extraordinarily harsh autumn and winter conditions?  Diana's colony were strong and numerous compared to young Epona, the fertilised Queen, who arrived at VGP last via Royal Mail in a jiffy bag last September. The first step is to sit quietly by the hives, to observe and talk to the bees, this meditational process calms us all and allows the bees time to adjust to our vibration.  Under the midday sun workers return home laden with pollen foraged from hazel, hellebore and mahonia. This suggests that the nursery is full of hungry brood, the pollen will provide protein, fats minerals and vitamins.

Eggs galore!  Epona's bees are calm and purposeful, the hive bustles with activity;  industrious workers are polishing cells in preparation for their prolific young Queen to lay her eggs, larvae are being capped and newly-laid, iridescent eggs sparkle in the sunshine.  On sighting the beautiful Queen we are surprised, the colony have polished and nurtured her fastidiously, removing her  identification marker.  We are delighted but know that we will have to husband this hive with care, when the weather improves they will quickly run out of space and there is a danger that they may decide to swarm.

In contrast, Diana's hive is sparse.  Standing in the shadow of Epona's hive to the south, it has struggled to gain warmth while the sun is low in the sky.  Further stress has been caused as the syrup that I fed last autumn must have held too much water, this has caused mould on the frames.  Our only glimmer of hope is in the behaviour of this small colony - they are calm and orderly - not the behaviour of a Queenless hive.  At the end of the inspection we finally spot Diana looking fit and healthy, huddled in a cluster at the front of the middle supa, although she is not laying prolifically there is brood.  With luck we are just in time, we decide to feed the bees their own  honey for the next few weeks in the hope that their liquid gold will heal and strengthen them.  The contrasting tales of these two hives, standing side by side, perfectly illustrates the fine balance between life and death in the natural world.