Woodlands.co.uk

Blog - bees

2012 – a rather wet year.

2012 – a rather wet year.

by Lewis, 8 January, 2013, 7 comments

It has been a rather strange year.  After another dry winter – March arrived and was one of the warmest and driest on record; consequently, many of us were threatened with restrictions (on hosepipes etc)  as a severe drought threatened - many reservoirs were very low on water. But then came April, which was one of the wettest recorded in the UK.  Some 121.8 mm of rain fell, beating the previous record of 120.3 mm -which was set in 2000; some parts of the U.K. had three times the ‘normal’ amount of rainfall. June was also very wet and set a record. There then followed the wettest summer as a whole since 1912.   The final rainfall figures for the year have been released and the total rainfall for the UK during 2012 was 1,330.7 mm (52.4in), just 6.6mm short of the record set in 2000. The big winners in these wet conditions were slugs – including the giant Spanish super slug, or Spanish stealth slug that was reported to be invading gardens.  These have an  ‘enhanced’ breeding cycle producing many more eggs Read more...
Back to bees, again

Back to bees, again

by Chris, 23 November, 2012, 1 comments

Further to the woodlands post about ‘bees and weather’, the British Beekeepers Association has announced that honey yields from hives are substantially down.  The average annual yield per hive is about 13.6 Kg but this year the figure is averaging 3.6 Kg per hive  – down by over 70%.   The worst results were for the London hives, where the figure was down to 2.5 Kg / hive. Most beekeepers have attributed this fall to the (wet) weather.  Bees had a poor start to the year as the poor weather this Spring (April onwards) limited the bees foraging - for early crops, such as oil seed rape.  The rain was also a feature of early summer - June and July, for much of the country. Read more...
Biting bees

Biting bees

by Chris, 15 November, 2012, 0 comments

The woodlands blog has previously posted about hygienic behaviour that is seen in some bee colonies, this involves the removal of dead bee larvae and pupae. These could act as breeding grounds for mites and other insects that make “their home” in a hive. Mites, such as the varroa mite, are small spider-like creatures that attach to bees and ‘suck their blood’ and in so doing inoculate the bees with various viruses such as acute bee paralysis virus, deformed wing virus, and slow paralysis virus etc.   Mites are endemic to both wild and domestic bee colonies, as are insects such as wax moth larvae.  Wax moth larvae can burrow into the combs of a hive / colony destroying the cells where the larvae etc. are developing and growing, and where honey is stored. Read more...
Bees - and the weather.

Bees – and the weather.

by Chris, 23 July, 2012, 10 comments

Bees are important pollinators, especially for crops like apples.  The UK apple market is estimated at some £320 M per annum. Though current estimates vary, it is pretty much certain that this year’s apple harvest will be down, perhaps only 50% of that of a ‘normal’ year.  Though the trees produced blossom in plenty and all looked good for a ‘bumper harvest’ – it then rained and rained. Because of the weather, there were few bees, bumblebees or other pollinating insects.   This has not been a good year for bees (or indeed, bumblebees).   Why? Read more...
Chelsea, urban gardens and ecosystem services.

Chelsea, urban gardens and ecosystem services.

by Lewis, 7 June, 2012, 0 comments

One of the gold medal winners at this year’s Chelsea Flower show was the garden entitled “Gardening for Champions”.  This garden shows how simple changes to urban gardens can help the environment through Encouraging pollinating insects Saving water Cutting carbon dioxide emissions The garden, which was designed by Martin Walker, is based on research carried out by academics ** from the University of Leeds; it shows how simple changes to urban gardens can make a positive contribution to ecosystem services.  The garden offers a number of practical suggestions, Read more...
Greenridge - my wood.

Greenridge – my wood.

by Graham H, 17 May, 2012, 6 comments

Having been born and brought up in rural Devon and then subsequently spending a career of 50 years at sea, the prospect of retirement with all its encumbrance of zimmer frames and wheel chairs was not sitting too comfortably on my shoulders. A year into this experience, at about the time the wife stopped talking to me, and with the feeling of guilt experienced every morning of really not doing very much constructive with my life, except walk the two Springers the obligatory six miles a day along the coast outside my home - it really felt as if the rot was well and truly starting to set in. That is until one day, whilst exploring a quiet part of Northumberland,  I espied a Woodlands.co.uk for sale sign. Read more...
Motivations for buying woodland

Motivations for buying woodland

by Hannah, 5 June, 2011, 0 comments

We recently surveyed 149 woodland owners to find out why they bought pieces of woodland, and what they did with them. The full report can be downloaded here but you may be interested in some of the key findings. Unsurprisingly we saw that for the great majority (89%) a love of wildlife was an important factor in buying their wood, as was having a place where they, their family and friends can relax in some solitude (90%), conservation (86%) and to have a source of wood fuel for their own use or sell to others (75%). Read more...
Forestry Commision - the National Forest Inventory (NFI).

Forestry Commision – the National Forest Inventory (NFI).

by Lewis, 2 June, 2011, 2 comments

The Forestry Comission has just announced the first results of the National Forest Inventory (NFI); the NFI replaces the National Inventory of Woodlands and Trees (NIWT).  The 'woods and trees' inventory has been compiled (using various methods) since the 1920’s when there was considerable concern about the ‘stock’ of woodland and timber that could used in an ‘emergency’; e.g. when it was not possible to import timber from Europe or ‘The Empire’ as was the case during WW1. Read more...

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Wild Flower Guide

Badger
Read our guide to wild flowers of woodland and hedgerow

Topics

Tags