Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

Humdinger1

You brave soldier @Suffolk_lass! At the risk of being infuriating, these sound like bees too angry to sell? Your description has stayed with me. How are you? Love Humdinger xx

Suffolk_lass

Thanks for the good wishes and enquiries as to my condition. I am fine now. The new meds seem to have helped (upping the dose in my antihistamines from 10mg to 180mg when stung; the Doctor's surgery pharmacist has added these to my regular prescription items).

I have one apiary where I am still suffering the legacy of the bees that really were too angry to sell. That was a known queen genetics issue. My other two apiaries (only 3 colonies in each) are both nice bees now that they have queens. The conditions that make any colony defensive (nasty/aggressive), whatever the genetic predisposition are being queenless or being attacked and robbed. The wasps are out early this year and that is the main thing. Once the guard bees start emitting their banana-scented alarm pheromone, that recruits bees that just do as they are told, and go looking to sting the intruder.

A much nicer week in prospect if we ignore the destruction by burning coming on Thursday, and the need to euthanise one colony before that. I have a gardener today (albeit the step-son of my regular one, who is a farm contract manager and elsewhere at the moment) - I need to be ready to supervise and train him today. Hedging and weed seed removal and dead cutting, I think.

I have lunch with my travelling bee convention group at a nice restaurant tomorrow and we are going away in the camper to meet up with friends after the burn on Thursday. Mr Sl's motorbike is being collected that morning too. The quiet period of the finances is imminent too, with just my big (JL) credit card to go but otherwise almost all the regular things have gone now and Mr Sl's state pension is incoming on Friday 😊

The hosepipe ban has made things harder but I filled 20 10L watering cans to water my veg garden and greenhouse last night, once the temperature dropped. I will repeat on Wednesday but then the outdoor planting is fending for themselves until Tuesday, with a friend watering the greenhouse. I might ask the cat sitter to do the hanging baskets and the winter squashes once.

- have a good week, everyone if I don't get back here

beanielou

How are things?

Suffolk_lass

Thanks for asking @beanielou. I've been MIA on here for over a month. It is always somewhat crazy here in July/August.

Harvesting what we have grown, making space to move a freezer from the soon-to be rebuilt garden building into the (stuffed with stuff) cart lodge, harvesting some honey, several trips in the campervan, looking after bees and processing food. It is all go here. Starting to slow down, I am picking up my studies ready for the next exam in November.

In money saving news my RS matured and I topped it up with some bits and pieces and have opened an 18 month bond with the bush kangaroo Yorkshire based BS - £5k in there. I think I will open another fixed rate RS if I can find one that doesn't require opening more accounts

beanielou

Good to see you 😇

EssexHebridean

Kangaroo references had me head scratching for a moment - very good though!

Suffolk_lass

Ha! Sorry @EssexHebridean - yes, it's just what's in my slightly different to mainstream brain at the moment!

Back from another short trip away in our camper - not the tranquil field with just us - there was a rally going on with 40 vans in the field and some children riding bikes on "our bit" because they thought it was hilarious to make our dog hurl himself at them when they rode within a metre of his lead extension - he nearly dislocated his neck and I aked them to go back to their part of the field. They ignored me but another person in the rally heard and reported to their distracted parent who promptly confiscated the bikes. My kind of discipline!!

Anyway, we returned Sunday morning first thing so we could take our bikes (the Sportster (HD) that is not being rebuilt and my little Vespa) down to the next village for their classic bike and car show. I promised two and that is what they got. It was going to be the heritage softail and the Sportser but needs must. At least one ten year old has his photo taken on the Vespa!

I've just been into both bank accounts and added in the plethora of transactions (pubs, restaurants, tea huts, coffee cabins, barbecues!) since Thursday. The local pub was the best bit - at £5.20 a pint it was busy with friendly locals and a pleasure to visit. The account is bulging with my state pension and I have tidied it down to the next hundred. The EF, depleted by truck and bond purchases is back to approaching £3k over the normal level. The lack of gloop in the WM (I use about half what is recommended and it still works perfectly well) combined with washing bee suits and stuff at 60c seems to have sorted out the anticipated failure where it still makes a terrible noise on a fast spin, I am content to dial it down to 900 from 1600 in good drying weather.

I returned to some properly wilted plants, and with a little collection of four sad looking perennials from garden centres that obviously buy them in - but all reduced to £4 or £5 from £10.99 and £12.99 respectively. A bit of TLC and they can all go in the bed to be replanted in the front garden IDC. All plants looking a bit perkier after picking and watering many, and now revived a bit, with another big drink tonight I think - although the weekend purchases need some stems to be pruned as the flowers have gone over.

Today, first though, I need to feed my bees and treat two hives with the follow up treatments. My friend is bringing some eggs and I shall suggest we have shakshuka tonight, as it will use some up. I finally have a large courgette I can offer her is return, as hers all failed.

I also have a gargantuan amount of washing underway and needing to be dried before the hoped for rain this week. Busy, busy, busy.

Have a good week all

Suffolk_lass

Phew, I might be starting to catch up with myself at last. Time to do some of the admin I have been neglecting for months!

I also need to go through our bee equipment and cycle some frames through the freezer (it kills wax moth eggs, larvae & adults).

My friend who does some gardening came yesterday and spent five hours removing some lemon balm that was ending flowering (a thug plant that spreads too readily) and also pulled or cut out plenty of brambles. His underlying medical condition is paying him back for working too hard in the hot weather and had stopped by half past one. He also helpfully took all the accumulated plant matter in the aggregate bags at the front so that looks a lot better now!

I picked a few beans, courgettes, yellow cucumbers and raspberries. I cooked and jarred up lots of plums (Victorias) and they are in the larder for winter loveliness, to have under crumbles, on top of yoghurt or with custard! Two bags of courgettes are chopped and pressed closed, ready to join the others in the freezer.

I am feeling slightly guilty as my Guatemalan blue squash plant has also been composted after yielding three good sized fruits. The guilt is because mine seem to have fared better than @foxgloves who sent me the seed. I picked two enormous fruits a while ago and then decided to compost the plant to give the small winter squash a bit more light, only to discover a third that is nearly big enough to live in!

All good here! 😎

foxgloves

We've had enormous GBS fruits in previous years but this year has been tricky for them - partly the heat (though the one I planted in semi-shade fared the worst) & drought but also because the veg beds didn't get their usual application of home made compost. They will this Autumn as we have plenty. I also boost soil fertility with a few comfrey 'chop & drop' sessions but our comfrey plants didn't put on their usual rigorous growth because they didn't rate the heat either. Each year, we have a couple of veg go bung & this time it was GBS & cavolo nero.

I'm glad yours grew for you! At least I have plenty of seeds for next year.

F x

rtandon27

Oh yes lemon balm can take over - I have mine in a pot and it comes back ferociously every year!