Bring me sunshine!

Lovely sunny day here in North Devon and the bees are a buzzin'. Some are returning with pollen, which looks to be Grey Willow. This is used to feed the bee larvae (brood) so it is a good sign that all is well with queen.

The metal strip across the entrance to the hive is a mouse guard. This prevents mice entering the hive and eating its stores/brood whilst the bees are clustered in a tight ball during the colder winter days.

Last months heavy rain took out some fencing in a far corner of the farm when the river broke, luckily we spotted it before the sheep did. This corner has been repaired several times as it lays quite wet and the fence posts are easily moved. To prevent this happening again we did not using fence posts this time. Instead, we tied in the fence to the trees in old hedge bank using bailer twine.

It's a lovely place to work, with dippers dashing up and down the river and the woods alive with birdsong. The wild garlic is starting to show, which always induces a feeling of hunger as its gets trampled underfoot releasing its garlicky aroma.

Lets hope February is a drier month.