We lost several Tunnel crops, all the early winter salads and the Celery the main casualties. Outside the Late Sprouts suffered from frost damage and the Purple has given up. Leeks came through OK but we lost about 10% with outer leaves damaged on the rest reducing weight by another 10 to 20%.
The Sheep came through unscathed but ate about a third of our winter hay store in 6 weeks, glad to say they are eating a good deal less now the weather has warmed up. We hpe to have them scanned in Feb with any barren ewes going for Mutton.
The bees have suffered mainly from Woodpecker damage, this can often happen when it is so cold that the bees can't fly and see off the Woodpecker as it raps on the side of the hive. I have plastic frames so once inside they do little physical damage but the colony rarely survives.
I was totting up the ways I've lost winter colonies over the past few years they are:
Varroa & viruses
Poor queen mating previous summer
Nosema
and Woodpecker damage
Can't wait till next year and see what novel ways we can loose colonies.
4 comments:
Hi Phil,
Good to see you back blogging. The weather is really mild here at the moment, which is helpful as we've just had our first lamb. Our ram spends quite a bit of time with his four ladies and seems to spread the pleasure out, so the first lamb last year was born on 14th Feb (although not normally in the habit of naming our animals we felt obliged to call him Valentin ) and the last one at the beginning of May!
This year is the year we're going to start keeping bees. Gabrielle is very interested in having a Warré hive but we're going to start conventionally, which will work better with the traditional old guy who will be here mentor.
I shall be emailing you to ask your advice on some pasture management issues.
Hi Guys
Good to hear again, beekeeping sounds fun and a local mentor will make things much easier. As far as the Warre hive is concerned I would definitley stick with a standard hive such as Langstroth or the local french hive they have been around for over a hundred years and are flexible and productive and equipment such as frame feeders and frames are readily available. I would suggest that experimental hives are fun once the beekeeping operation is running and producing. I will be interested to compare the seasons between our apiaries and the kind of issues you have to deal with.
All the best Phil
Hi Phil,
I lost my whole plot crop of autumn-planted broad beans, a victim of the snow and frost, and have had to replant this weekend. On the other hand, both hives of bees have come through seemingly unscathed. I had a quick look yesterday while it was nice and they're building up nicely.
Nice to read more from you, it's always pleasant to read your posts.
Simon
Hi Simon
Good to hear from you, it was a rough winter and bees have done OK but a good tip is to feed now if hives are at all light and possibly treat for nosema.
All the best Phil
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