What a Pickle

You know those times when everything happens at all at once?

As mentioned previously my house is in a state - fireplace renovated and now I'm decorating, Tom is half in/out as he prepares to leave to study his Masters at Nottingham and then there are the green tomatoes I picked a week ago when blight was about to set in.

Sheesh! What a lot if chopping, in the 2 hours I thought I'd have another coat of paint added I was still finely chopping my tomatoes, shallots & peppers. Makes you realise that in the past, Mum's at home weren't necessarily playing with the kids with so much manual chopping & washing to do.

Back in the living room the walls are looking good and the woodwork almost ready for a shiny coat of new paint.

I know we've reached chaos point in my house when John says nothing, but gets out the ironing board to reduce one chore.  Darn it, I didn't take a photo!

Home Sweet Home

Apiary at Offshoots

Yesterday was the last day of my 6 day weekend beekeeping course, I have enjoyed it thoroughly and learnt so much, not only about bee husbandry, but also a little about botany, meteorology and ecology.  Our final two days tied up the bee calender ending with a group quiz, another chance to ask questions and a certificate I shall hang proudly on my wall.

Offshoots Permaculture Garden

Ignorance and fear of an unknown species and obtaining the right advice had prevented me from embarking on bee keeping, but now I feel confident that I have the basic knowledge at least to realise my ambition.

Back in the first week Dave informed us the basic element of beekeeping to 'respect the bee' - to treat bees as we want to be treated, calmly and with consideration.  If someone came into our house, moved furniture around and messed around with the contents of our home we would not be happy. 



Coincidentally, and you may not believe this, but over the last 3 weeks whilst I've been at work during the week and attending my course at weekends, I think this has happened to my house!

Stove fitted

Whilst I was learning to build and nurture a house of bees, on Saturday John was talking to first time buyers at a new build development in Sabden and then yesterday renovating our own home.  We discovered a few weeks ago that our fireplace was cracked and as it is cast metal and irrepairable we've had to replace it.  I returned from my course to a cute woodburning stove to keep us cosy (not quite at the 35 degree temperature required by a colony of bees) during the winter while we plan the location and menu for our 60,000 new neighbours next June.

Healthy bees are happy bees

Day four of the Beekeeping course has the potential to be depressing - PESTS & DISEASE.

However, it's mainly about keeping the bees healthy and being a bee keeper not a keeper of bees.  During all the sessions in between wasps and woodpeckers and hives and honey, I've been scribbling any mere mention of a bee friendly plant.  One third of third of the food we eat is pollinated by the honey bee. 

Not knowing my plants much beyond wild flowers, I've also done a lot of 'googling' to put plant faces to names.

Last weekend I mentioned the lady from the garden centre who wants to know more about bees for the customers who ask her advice on planting.  By week two we are all a little more familiar, and I discovered, Jan works at Holden Clough Nursery; just 2 miles from my home.  Jan recommends Buddleia as a bee favourite.

Borage - I love borage, great for salads and pretty in Pimms.  I have grown it each year since we started our veg garden.  Annoyingly it doesn't come back even though there is plenty to be seen by the roadsides.  Dave our tutor, suggests I'm pulling it out earlier in the year mistaking it for a weed.  Sorry Borage, will try harder next year.

Rose Bay Willow Herb

Another road side favourite for the bees, but probably not for our local council is Rose Bay Willow Herb.  I'll be collecting some of the whispy seeds on my way home from work this week.  Smellier and more of a threat once in the garden is Himalyan Balsam - I think it's probably best I don't to import this imposter.




Poached egg plant, poppies, sedum and verbena are loved by bees.  Winter favourites are apparently ivy and laurel and in the spring a host of crocuses and snowdrops get the bees off to a great start.  Flowers and fruit pollinated by honey bees in their midst will do up to four times better.

My favourite, because they are so easy to grow, attractive, peppery in salads, slugs love them rather than my cabbages and as I discovered today make a great Pesto, are Nasturtiums.  I was quick to get my hands on a pot of fresh Garden Pesto made by Kerry, a volunteer at Offshoots at Towneley Hall.  Kerry recommends lashings of pesto spread thickly onto homemade brown bread (of course now I feel I really ought to achieve another target!)

Kerry's Nasturium Pesto
4 cups packed nasturtium leaves, plus a handful of nasturtium flowers
2 tablespoons nasturtium 'capers' (optional)
Any fresh herbs, ie mint, parsley
4 cloves garlic
1 cup walnuts (lightly toasted)
Grated rind of 1 large lemon
1 1/2 cups olive oil
Grated parmesan or hard goats cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt, adjusted to taste
black pepper to taste
Put everything but the salt and pepper into a blender or food processor and mix until smooth. (If you don’t have nasurtium 'capers' , don’t worry about it. Instead, think about adding a dash of hot sauce for a little extra bite.  Don’t add nasturtium pods that haven’t been processed and brined; they can be bitter.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

Naturtium 'Capers' Ingredients.- 100g Nasturtium seeds, 200g white wine vinegar, 15g salt, 6 peppercorns, herbs such as dill, tarragon or bay.
Method.- Boil the vinegar, salt and peppercorns together, and, when cold, strain it into a wide necked bottle. Gather the seeds on a dry day, put them into the vinegar, and cork closely. These pickled seeds form an excellent subsitute for capers. They are ready to use in about 3 months but may be kept for a much longer time with perfect safety.

Even if you don't have room for a hive or indeed the inclination to look after one, by just having a few of these plants in our tubs or window boxes we are contributing to our own food chain. 

A honey bee has thousands of tiny lenses so when one person runs around the garden waving hands in the air, to a bee it's like the whole of the Olympic stadium has just stood up. 

When a bee is out foraging for food the last thing on its mind is to harm; it knows only too well when it has to resort to the last defense of releasing the sting it looses its own life. 

Bee Day 3

Half way to Towneley Hall this morning for Beekeeping Day 3 and I remembered I hadn't taken an antihistamine. 

I don't suffer from hay fever, but last year at a Blackburn Beekeeper Meeting I listened to a talk by a Dr Julia Piggott, she expelled the myths of anaphylaxic shock relating to bee stings.  There are approximately 6 cases a year and seemingly so many other factors to take into account; one's mood, heat, the bees mood, dirty sting etc etc.  Roughly, a bad reaction from a bee sting one time "doesn't make a summer".  The suggestion as an apprentice beekeeper with any apprehension is, take an antihistamine and a pain killer.  As I understand it the result is to provide an element of protection against reaction (antihistamine) and calm any nerves (painkiller).  Well, it makes sense to me.

So, back to my journey this morning; driving along I tried to convince myself I was over reacting, the antihistamine is probably all in the mind and we might not be looking at the bees anyway. 

Hmm, but what if we were?  I felt my heart rate started to increase. 

Yep, nothing for it but a quick detour to the supermarket for the necessary 'protection'.

Our morning included a quick resume of last week (yes, I probably should have re read my notes), honey extraction techniques and equipment.  Surprisingly, Dave our tutor said he'd rather be stung anytime than carry out this proceedure.  Sticky, sticky, sticky.

Early 1900s bee keepers wearing a conventional suit,
not a bee suit

Today was a glorious 22 degrees, even in Burnley, in the North West England.  After lunch, in groups of three we were suited up to meet the bees.  I was in group 2 and whilst I was aware of the occasional bump of a bee on my head veil; an oufit rather similar to the fencing suits we've seen on the Olympics, only without flashing lights, I felt protected.  We were a good 10 minutes checking each frame in turn, for a queen bee, for eggs, for pollen and for adequate spacing - enough for the bees to move, but not enough for them to create a random honey comb.

Modern bee suit

Thankfully none of our group was stung, the bees were far too busy taking advantage of the plentiful pollen in the late September Indian summer.

Later back at the Walter Segul Cabin training room, I sleepily watched some "Bee Porn" under the influence of my earlier (non drowsy) antihistamine tablets. 

Respect the Bee

In 2011 I had a goal to keep bees. I think I feel a curiosity and social responsibility about bees.  My Grandfather, Sam Wood kept bees in Garstang and brought a colony to Harrop some 35 or so years ago. My Dad was never a fan so they haven't been a permanent feature since. Last year I joined Blackburn Beekeepers and went along to several meetings in order to pick up some guidance. With the rising trend in bee keeping everything equipment and advice seemed very glossy and expensive.

At the end of last year I heard about a course run via the Offshoots Project at

Towneley Hall being promoted. Time has gone one, and I thought I had missed out so I kind of put the idea on the back burner for a while.  I was delighted when in July when I received an email offering me a place on a course to be run for 3 weekends in September.

Towneley Park is a beautiful and peaceful area in the midst of industrial Burnley. I say peaceful, but you can lose yourself in its 'hive' of activity. This morning on my way to the Walter Segal Cabin training room I passed golfers, runners, sunday morning football training, dog walkers and horses striding out with their riders on the Mary Towneley Loop.

On the course we are a mixed bunch of potential bee enthusiasm, from a guy doing research for a blog, a lady who runs a garden centre who is always being asked about plants for bees and a variety of smallholders, allotment owners and people with a little land for a personal or community project.

During the first two days of the course we have learnt about the essential part played by the bee in the pollination process worldwide and its very important contribution to food production. Alongside the importance of nurturing our honey bees we have covered anatomy, hives, colony and life cycles, bee breeds and the support from local and national groups like Blackburn Beekeepers.

With tomorrow being the start of the new school year and the next generation ready to be inspired, parents and teachers don't forget -

the bumble bee hasn't been told it can't fly, so what's to stop it?