Windswept

Down here it's been a difficult year. Last Autumn was wet, windier, much colder and longer than normal; then we had a dry spring; then cold windy and wet. Our bees ate their winter stores so were fed fondant but as soon as spring arrived some colonies started swarm preps. Unfortunately the spring flow seemed to be condensed into a couple of weeks so I've got colonies with low stores but still wanting to swarm. Little wonder a novice beekeeper having problems.

Swarm from your own hives or from further afield? It's been a bit of a strange year and I'm trying my best to stop some of my colonies from swarming.

Call me a snowflake if you like but I don't support the battery farming of animals such as mink for fur and I was surprised to see how many mink were farmed in the EU. I support using products such as leather, sheep skin etc where the animal hasn't been shut in a tiny cage all its life. And I fully support those who process deer and rabbit skins etc. Living in the middle of a predominately dairy area it's not just vegan food production that produces agricultural run off, there's plenty of slurry and human waste getting spread round here ending up in the streams sadly.

If anyone is interested there's a G7 web site: https://www.g7uk.org/ No idea why the EU are represented but I did notice a South Korean military 747 fly over on it's way to Cornwall and found this: "The UK has invited Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa as guest countries to this year’s G7." Seeing all the planes flying in and all the military planes flying around I'm not sure they're doing much to meet their aim to "create a greener, more prosperous future."

There's plenty of EU boats still operating in the waters off North Cornwall. Take a look here if you're interested: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-5.7/centery:50.9/zoom:8 Somewhat frustratingly there's several of our patrol boats just offshore protecting the G7 rather than patrolling our coasts.

I don't think Chamaemelum nobile fixes nitrogen and if it's grown for biomass or even a break crop I would have thought it would have been planted more densely? There's a huge demand for chamomile, not just for teas but you can buy large bags for horse feed etc.

Certainly looks like a crop of chamomile, possibly growing to harvest the flowers. Interesting to see what they do. If you're very lucky you might even get to see Jennifer Ehle frolicking around in the summer.

There's been a fair bit in the news about shortages (thus making the shortages worse) so I was surprised to see my local stores have a good supply. At least the local DIY sheds (Wickes for example) have fairly accurate online stock checking which saves phone calls and trips.

There does seem to be a trend of painting the existing doors. I don't know if that's an option?

I remember the joke that says don't buy a personalised plate, it's cheaper to change your name to match the plate on your car.

Looks like sweet rocket. Should have a nice scent.

The other thing to think about is chargeback on a debit or credit card or a claim under section 75 if you paid by credit card. You can claim against them instead of the auction house or at the same time. It may depend on how your purchase was made, i.e. if the delivery was a separate cost to the item.

I've grown shiitake and oysters on logs. They can fruit in a year but it depends on various things such as size of the log and number of dowels used. The logs go on to fruit for a number of years after that.

If you made the purchase as an individual rather than a company then it would appear the Consumer Rights Act 2015 would apply. Section 49 states the auction house should provide services with reasonable care and skill. Section 57 of the act stats "Liability that cannot be excluded or restricted (1)A term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader’s liability arising under section 49 (service to be performed with reasonable care and skill)." I think this applies to auction houses, so basically their terms are void an

Tree bumbles bees are becoming increasingly common, I actually had a nest in a tree but most people seem to notice them nesting in a bird box. You may start to see males hovering outside the entrance and I gather they'll die out in late July, possibly August. I also gather they may not like vibrations and disturbance, so, if you can, leave them to it. I've not had any problem watching them.