September Update

Here at Wayward Bee, September has been a pleasantly quiet month, with time to enjoy the plants and animals - and the weather! It's been the driest warmest start to autumn I can remember but thankfully everything and everyone in the garden and paddock is thriving.

The Bees:
They love the hot dry conditions and are working the ivy for pollen and nectar. Walking past an ivy-clad tree, you can hear an audible buzz as bees and flies make the most of the rich supplies. There is a solitary bee called the Ivy Bee that has recently made it over to our shores (therefore a new species not an alien one) and they look very similar to a honey bee. Hornets and wasps are also making the most of the congregating masses of prey and picking off any hapless insect who doesn't look behind them...

Thankfully 6 of my colonies are going in to the winter in a very strong state, absolutely chock full of honey. One has been a bit slow to build up so I'm uniting them with a queenless colony to give them a boost in numbers. I'm also housing 2 colonies for a friend who is moving soon and needs to relocate her hives while she decides where she can keep them. One is a swarm we rescued from her plum tree and despite a rather inelegant removal of combs from the branch, they are creating a wonderful organic honeycomb structure in the bottom of a brood box and bringing in honey and pollen for the winter. They have frames of honey and comb to build in so that they can be checked more easily but bees much prefer to build their own free-form comb than in the rectangles we provide them with! I will be blogging about this on a later date, hopefully with some pictures.

This is the Rose Hive outside my front door

The Chickens:
Egg production is starting to slow down as the days get shorter, and the hens start to go through an annual moult. This natural process happens in autumn as there is a natural break in the brooding cycle (hens don't want to rear chicks going in to winter) and it rejuvenates their feathers ready for inclement weather. Each of the pens looks like it's had a pillow emptied in it and preening is a constant operation! Some hens can feel a bit peaky and go quite quiet and introverted which for an anxious mother like me is always disconcerting. I've bought them some mealworms and added sunflower seeds to their scratch ration of corn in the afternoon to boost the protein and cheer them up. The roosters always look a bit unimpressive without their long sickle tail feathers and they too preen more and strut less but this means they tend to leave the hens alone: no bad thing when the girls are below par.

The Garden:
I've been planting lots of bulbs from Gee Tee Bulbs in the lawn this week ready for spring. I concentrate on early crocus and fritillary so that they are most beneficial for wildlife. Choose a spot where the sun will shine in the winter but be sheltered from the wind; this is where the bees are most likely to look for forage. Being essentially 'cold-blooded' they need the Sun's warmth to help them along in low temperatures. Other than that the garden has been looking after itself and the asters and sunflowers are at their peak. I've been sowing Broad Bean 'Aquadulce' too ready for planting out this autumn, although I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to put them...!