Far Lands

Last week I helped out on the NFG (Northern Fruit Group) stand at the Tatton show. We were displaying an impressive selection of soft fruit. Far less impressive was my answering of the many questions from the people looking at the fruit. After being quizzed by seven consecutive people on figs I wondered whether I should have taken a hip flask. I quickly realised that the only things I knew lots about were strawberries and gooseberries. Unlike school exams however, copying from the next person was not just allowed but expected, and by the end of the day I knew quite a lot more than at the start. One question I had no trouble with was, 'My parents apple tree died last year, and my father died soon afterwards. Do you think the two things are connected?' I told her that 'I did not believe in that kind of thing.' When I later related the story to my mother-in-law she came up with would have been a far better reply:- 'Did he fall off the tree?'

My cousin got in touch to say that his rabbit was called 'Bertie' and that . . .  'We stayed in an Edinburgh hotel en route to Skye and while surreptitiously transporting Bertie up via a lift ( we weren't sure of hotel procedure for rabbits in rooms) we bumped into rappers NWA. As you can imagine they were a bit surprised....' I caught a squirrel and with the help of Fernley-Hughstall I skinned and gutted it. Fried up the offal (heart, liver, kidneys) for one supper and then slow-cooked the rest of it. Sternly-Whittinghall writes that it is tastier than rabbit, but I would need to eat a few more (my plan) to decide.   Chicks are getting bigger - we have built them an extension and added a roosting bar. The picking season has arrived - starting with a fab crop of blackcurrants.  All go!

A few years back my cousin visited us on his way North, and he brought with him his rabbit. His house-rabbit. I could hardly believe it; he was going on a two week holiday to Skye and taking his rabbit with him. I ribbed him mercilessly at the time, and regularly ever since. I will now have to stop. First, I would like to say sorry to him. (A public apology - all the rage with Chief Constables at the moment.) Sorry. I should probably add that at the weekend we took our dozen chicks to our friends in Northumberland. We would have missed them otherwise.

And that's nothing to do with Le Tour which we went to see on Holme Moss on Sunday (along with 60 000 other people). One of our chickens has died (old-age), but the chicks are all looking good. Sarah was very reluctant to go to work yesterday after a weekend of looking after them. Outside, our fruit cage is bursting with potential, and attractive not just to us but to marauders including squirrels, mice (1-0) and a rat (which I also caught). The crows have been scared off by Loiuse - who could blame them? I inspected the bees (ten days after giving them a new queen, courtesy of Royal Mail) and it was fantastic to see that not only she was alive, but laying eggs. I could see brood and sealed brood which is really fantastic. And lucky. Touch wood now that they don't get that swarmy feeling . . . Three wasp nests to date - photo shows the remains of one from the hawthorn hedge (4 stings in total when I was cutting the hedge), and I have also dealt with one in the loft

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Having all sorts of problems with our bees. It all went well for about a month, the Queen laying well and the colony growing in size. But then I found some Queen cells (new Queens being developed) which meant that a swarm was likely. Mistake 1 : I squashed the Queen cells (I should have split the colony into two parts (as the bees were trying to do) and have 2 colonies. I thought it was the right thing to do but the bees then did swarm (Sarah saw them go) which meant we lost the Queen and half the bees. Mistake 2 : I squashed the remaining Queen cells as I did not want any more swarms. A VERY bad mistake as I now had a colony without a Queen and without the chance of a new Queen being hatched. Mistake 3:  I went away on holiday for 2 weeks. The solution (if I had been quick and not sunning myself on hol) was to introduce a new mated Queen (bought from another beekeeper). But I was not, so when I got back from holiday I had the problem of laying workers . Some of the worker bees h