Fighting forward!

 

We've been meaning to write for a while but this is not the time of year for sitting, this is the beekeeping season proper. It was slow to start with a cold wet spring but, touch wood, warmer weather has arrived and hopefully it will stay. As I write, Steve is on the South Coast, Kent, tending to the bees, it was an early start; he's on his way back and it's only 10.41 am. He says the dogrose is out and the woodsage is budding up and there is some honey in the hives!

Whilst we are busy in our own microcosm of work there are bigger plots afoot. Happily, the EU has put at least a temporary ban on neonicotinoids, a group of pesticides which have been linked to poor bee health. But this is only for two years. It seems the March of the Beekeepers' which Steve joined on the 26th of April helped. But bees minister Lord de Mauley is attending the British Bee Summit on Friday and we need to pressure him into pushing for more ambitious plans to improve the situation for all of Britain's bees, not just the honeybees that bring in the sweet stuff. Friends of the Earth are doing a good job of keeping the pressure up, if you want to lend your voice you can do so on their website: http://www.foe.co.uk/news/petition_bees_minister_40566.html

But I don't want to end on a gloomy note. There is lots of positive work being done. Steve had a great time at Chelsea Flower show this year where there was such encouraging interest in bees and the gardens reflected a sympathy to pollinators which is becoming more deeply embedded. Hopefully as a nation we can spread this to our farming practices by reducing chemical use and using Integrated Pest Management approaches which take into consideration planting times, natural predators and a variety of variations on inter-planting different plants to keep the pests in check. Fellow Spa Terminus businesses, where we are based, like Jane at Fern Verrow http://fernverrow.com/ are busy farming in a sustainable way. I had a very inspiring visit to Wakelyns (wakelyns.co.uk/), the Organic Research Centre's farm recently and they have managed to get 7 species of bumble bee taking up residence so they must be doing something right! So let's try for more of this and less chemical warfare and more happy beekeeping! Some sunshine would also help!