Sunday 13 October 2013

Hares (Again), Experiments with Planting Parsnips and a Car Full of Bees




Just a note about the Hares because they're back in the local fields again. Unlike in May, when they were hidden in the wheat - this time they're right out in the open, because the corn has now been cut and some of the fields have been ploughed. So the Hares look very exposed - and I worry that they can be easily seen by their human and animal predators.

I walk close to the hedgerow so that I can see them and not startle them, and Harry is under strict instructions to keep right next to me. But, like before, he just isn't that interested in them - they're too much like Rabbits, which also seem to leave him a bit cold. He's more of a rodent-under-the-shed kind of dog...










I wonder if these are the Hares I saw earlier in the year, and if they've reared any young.  I don't think I've ever seen a Leveret.

There are fewer insects about now; I saw a Red Admiral butterfly yesterday battling against the wind, and my bees will do some flying in the sun, but once the temperature drops and the rain comes in, they'll stay put in the hive. There are a few, last Dragonflies and Damselflies settling on the decaying plants and leaves...






The recent strong wind has scattered plenty of leaves and twigs everywhere.  The Poplars outside the smallholding never seem very sturdy when the wind blows and there is a rustle of leaves all along the lane.  One story I've been told is that these Poplars were planted for matches, when farmers were given incentives to provide the wood, but they were left when there was no longer a demand for them. Well, whatever their origin, I'm keeping a close watch on the branches at the moment, because this is where the winter thrushes (Fieldfares and Redwings) usually appear first when they return...







Experiments with Planting Parsnips

Leaves are falling, too - all over the veg patch, where the autumn veg is coming through. I've mixed results as usual, here - my carrots wouldn't look out of place in a dolls house, but my parsnips are looking great.  And this is thanks to my lovely Dad.

Last year none of my parsnips came up in all that cold, wet weather - and I believe my seeds just rotted away in the ground. So Dad had a suggestion for this year. He has been gardening for decades - and as well as using tried and tested methods, he's also always keen to experiment with new ideas.  So his suggestion was that I could always try something different - by germinating the seeds outside the soil, in tubs filled with damp kitchen paper...

A few of the parsnip seeds germinating on the kitchen paper




And it's worked beautifully. All the seeds have germinated by this method and I was able to lift them gently out of the tubs and plant them into the soil a few weeks later.

Now I have lots of parsnips coming up in the veg patch, ready to eat after they've been sweetened by the first frost.  Here is what some of them looked like just before we went on holiday last month...

Guaranteed Parnsips - although, of course, this year the ground is dry!





A final word on bees...

I know it's happened to many beekeepers - and it has just happened to me.  I've quickly lifted some frames out of a beehive that were full of honey and placed them into some new plastic boxes to take away. Then I put them in the car.  After a quick glance, I didn't see many bees still clinging to the frames and so believed that there weren't many -and I thought that the few bees that were now in the boxes could be safely released at home. I also had too much faith in the sealed lids of the new boxes and completely missed the small, bee-size gap in the corner of them.

And, of course, I got it all wrong. There were more bees than I thought on the frames - and they all found that bee-size gap in the box. When I came back to the car after a only few minutes away the first thing I saw were lots of bees looking back at me through the car windows.  Thinking back, I was lucky that I wasn't already driving when they started to escape so I didn't suddenly have lots of buzzing passengers while I was on the road. But I did have to immediately open all the car doors and windows and watch them fly off - and then thoroughly search the car to make sure every single bee had gone!





Escaping bees are one of the hazards of beekeeping. I was recently told by a fellow beekeeper that he had once ordered a whole hive of bees and these had somehow all escaped in the local Royal Mail sorting office.  The first he heard about it was a call of panic from the local posties to come and do something about it.

Sometimes I'm glad that there is a seasonal break from the excitement of beekeeping...

52 comments:

  1. What a fascinating post and your photographs are wonderful.

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    1. Hello Freda and thank you for your comment

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  2. O Wendy, all those bees in the car, what a fright! I would be super scared, but I am not a beekeeper. This is a bit too much excitement I think. Your hare picture is so beautiful, I love to see the hares in the fields. The poplars look beautiful in the sun,

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    1. Thanks Janneke - Having bees everywhere in car was certainly a bit too much excitement! It is lovely walking along the lane seeing the leaves of Poplars and all the other trees turning red/gold.

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  3. Goodness, that was lucky that you had left your car for a while and not driven straight off. I can't imagine a hive of bees being sent via Royal Mail! How wonderful to see the hares like that but as you mention they are very vulnerable now the corn has gone and the fields are bare:)

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    1. Thanks Rosie. I've had a few bees (a queen and handful of helper bees) delivered through the post in a plain brown envelope several times now. I'm never sure if the postie guesses what he/she is delivering or not!
      Hope the Hares stay safe!

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  4. Hares are beautiful, there are usually a few where I walk, they aren't too bothered when I walk by them, they hop off and then stop and look so usually I get a good view, they are so handsome. Beautiful photos on your post as usual. Best of luck with your parsnips.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth. You are lucky to see so many Hares! They aren't usually seen around here at all.
      We eat lots of parsnips over the winter, so we did miss not having any last year.

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  5. Lovely photos Wendy - really like the last one of the bee and blue borage :) Sorry to hear about your bees escaping but thank goodness it didn't happen whilst you were driving! Your parsnips look healthy - I germinate seeds like sweet peas first on damp kitchen paper.

    Redwings and Fieldfares seem to be appearing all over the country although none here yet so hope they arrive on the poplars soon :)

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    1. Thanks Caroline. I dread to think what would have happened if I'd been driving and all the bees had escaped. I don't fancy stopping by the side of a busy road to clear the car of them!
      I wondered whether I should germinate more seeds on damp kitchen paper so I'm pleased to hear from your experience that you do this all the time. After last year, I'm going to make sure I don't have any more seeds rotting before they've even got going.

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  6. Absolutely LOVE your bees in the car story! Will they come back or have they all gone off elsewhere? And I also love the hare. We don't get them here so it is a real treat to see yours. I will never tire of looking at them. Bunnies drive Teddy mad so Harry is very impressive leaving them be! Great idea about the parsnips seeds and how pleasing that it actually worked.

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    1. Thanks CT. The bees all went straight back to the hive, fortunately. Thank goodness they didn't hang around! Interesting about Teddy and the Rabbits - Harry doesn't chase anything on our walks, but he does like to pick up a fresh scent (usually dog or fox) - then he's off!

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  7. Such lovely photographs - I never seem to have a problem with parsnips, although this year they do seem a little smaller than usual. Rather you than me with transporting bees the last picture is incredible, your borage looks to have done well this year and the bees obviously love it.

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    1. Thanks Elaine. I usually have a wonderful crop of parsnips, but after nothing last year I was determined not to take any chances this year.
      I've planted lots of borage and it has proved an ideal, autumn plant for the foraging bees when not much else is out for them.

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  8. It still looks like summer in the South East! Very funny bee story - I love the idea of them looking at you through the windows. Very, very envious of your hares - they're magical.

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    1. Thanks Em. Last week we did have some lovely warm days, but it has been horrible here today - lots of heavy rain.
      Hares are a favourite creature of mine. I hope I can see some boxing next year for the first time.

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  9. Wonderful photos Wendy, but the dragonfly on the seed head is terrific. Love the bee stories, can you imagine being at the post office when they escaped?

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  10. Thanks Suzie. Yes - I do have an image of the staff at the post office fleeing from the escaping bees! It's not as if you can easily round up bees. I'm guessing the beekeeper (and the help he said he'd bought in) just had to let them go.

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  11. I have still not seen a hare! Maybe next year.
    Given the normal demeanour of our postie I don't think I'd better be ordering bees any time soon..

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    1. Thanks Jessica. Hope you get to see one soon.
      Ah...yes..I can see that might be a problem with such a postie! Thinking more about mine - I'm guessing he's probably 'cheerfully unaware' of what he's carrying. Wouldn't want to worry him re: bees in the postbag...

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  12. Lovely nature walk, I felt as if I was right there. October can be such a beautiful month.

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    1. Thanks Susan. I agree, October can be lovely in the sunshine. There's so much in the hedgerows and we have lots of mature trees here so everywhere we look there are leaves turning beautiful colours.

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  13. Great photos again, and a super tip about parsnip seeds, which we find very difficult to get going.

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    1. Thanks Ian. I would have said, up to last year, that parsnips were one of my more reliable vegetables. But last year completely changed my opinion of growing them and so something had to be done - we do rely on them here.

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  14. Love the stories you are telling along side your super photos. How lucky to be able to see hares on your walks, hope they stay safe. Where we lived before in the NW, on the coast of Lancashire, we had lots of hares, but also unfortunately they attracted the unsavoury element from Liverpool. So glad you got home safely without any bees in the car!

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    1. Thanks Pauline. I was lucky to see a Hare again this morning on my walk; as I watched it disappear I was reminded again how fast they can run. Wonderful! But they do attract some horrible types which is why I fear for them so much.
      All boxes in the car that may carry bees are now checked and doubled checked before I set off!

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  15. Amazing photos, particularly love the bee on the borage. You have reaffirmed that I am just not cut out to be a bee keeper, I'd want hazard pay! Hares are such beautiful animals, somehow more sleek and stylish than rabbits. A dog more keen on rodents than rabbits - or hares - sounds just about perfect for a smallholding, mybe you should try and breed from him?!

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    1. Thanks Janet. Well, it seems to be inevitable that throughout the year I'll get stung several times and this weekend I had a bee trapped in my hair, which wasn't nice. But I won't let it put me off!!
      Harry does his best to patrol the smallholding, but I'm not sure he's so good at catching any rodents. They always manage to get away.

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  16. Very lucky indeed that you weren't driving when they escaped! Lovely photo of the hare. xx

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    1. Thanks Debbie. Yes, I'm glad they found their way out of the boxes sooner rather than later! Even though my route wouldn't have taken me through a built up area, I still wouldn't have fancied an emergency stop to suddenly release a load of bees from the car.

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  17. I've done that with parsnip seeds many times, and it works very well. NOW, I'm so envious of you and the Hares, I'd think I'd won the lottery if I spotted these out on my trips. I've had Puffins, Hares and Dolphins on my list of things I want to see, Dolphins crossed off this year so fingers crossed for the others. x

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    1. Thanks Suzy. Now I am completely converted to planting my parsnips this way! Hares are a very special creature to see, aren't they? Hope you get to see some - and some Puffins - very soon.

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  18. What a magnificent looking hare...and love the dragonfly & bee photo. So glad you weren't driving when the bees escaped... when hubby's friend bought one of his hives over for us to look as it was getting robbed out by wasps.. he pulled up out side of ours and opened the car and out flew a couple of bees, he was so relieved it wasn't more!
    Julie :o)

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    1. Thanks Julie. I've been glad to see a few Dragonflies and Damselflies about - not sure how much longer they'll be about, though.
      I imagine your beekeeping friend thought that two bees were more than enough! I've often started to drive off - only to hear the tell-tale buzz of a bee that has somehow got into the car. Fortunately they usually tend to head for the windows and not the driver!

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  19. What a brilliant photo of the bee on the borage, but a slightly scary story about the bees in your car, was a good job you hadn't driven off. That is a good tip about germination or the parsnips. I sowed mine in modules and then transplanted them but I know they are not supposed to like disturbance so the roots of mine may be all over the place, I've yet to dig any up. I may try your technique next year.

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    1. Thanks Annie. I would have thought I'd have learnt by now not to rush beekeeping - it never pays! I was just too quick to load the car and leave the hives.
      I'm really pleased with the parsnips. Hope yours turn out to be good.

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  20. I loved the pic of the hare, I do hope they take cover in the hedgerow though. How lovely that you get to see them.

    Harry being a rodent under the shed kinda dog has me smiling....I'm becoming very fond of that little chap!

    Wow....a car full of bees eh? thank god you weren't driving!!!! It's a lot more dangerous than I thought this beekeeping....not sure I'm up to it....may just have to live precariously through you....lol. Another wonderful post that I really enjoyed.xxxx

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    1. Thanks Snowbird. There's not much cover for the Hares here - the fields are very large and open - so I hope they do keep close to the hedgerows.
      With his terrier instinct, Harry can stare under a shed for hours with unbroken concentration!
      Beekeepers often swop their 'near miss' stories - after they happen. They're never so much fun at the time, though!

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  21. Quite a horror story Wendy.
    I bet thats the fastest those Royal Mail employees have ever moved.{:))

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    1. Thanks Roy. I bet there was complete panic there. Not a day for them to forget!

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  22. Oh dear to a car full of bees, but I did have a chuckle at the sorting office thing! Parsnips are a devil to grow, but such a great crop when you get them right - our allotment was superb for them and I well remember the year we were over-run with them - curried parsnip soup, anyone?!

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    1. Thanks Robyn. I don't think we could have enough parsnips here. I rely on them lasting right through the winter. Unthinkable that I wouldn't have any for Christmas dinner, too!

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  23. Each time I see a hare, I still get that excited, warm fuzzy feeling as when I saw my first one! Lovely photo of a wonderful creature!

    I'm glad to hear you weren't driving when the bees escaped. My worst nightmare!!

    Interesting parsnip growing tip, I shall remember that!

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    1. Thanks Lou Mary. I stop and watch a Hare every time I see one, it's such a wonderful moment. I didn't see any for years - so it's fantastic that they're back.
      One bee flying in the car is enough for me to suddenly pull over and act - so can't imagine what it would be like with bees everywhere!

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  24. What a great picture of the hare. We have hares round here, higher up the hill, but it is not easy getting good pictures of them. It is hard to explain why they move me so much but they do. Rabbits, by contrast, leave me cold!

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth. Most of my Hare photos are of Hares running away, very fast! I must admit I'm the same about Hares and Rabbits, Rabbits should be a lot cuter, but the Hares - not cute- are just very special creatures.

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  25. There is never a dull moment over at yours Wendy. Bees in the car sounds a nightmare, but the parsnips - will they be ready for Christmas? - roast parsnips delicious.

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    1. Thanks Rosemary. The beekeeping season is nearly at an end - so the hives will be closed up, so to speak, for the winter. Hopefully, there will be no more bee-keeping dramas until the spring!
      I completely agree about roast parsnips at Christmas and fortunately there should be plenty of them this year.

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  26. Your hares are so much bigger than our hungry little cotton tail bunnies. Has England suffered as much Colony Collapse Disorder in your hives as we have in the US? A car full of bees? Yikes!

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    1. Thanks Tammy. I don't know how the size of these brown Hares compared to your own Rabbits - I'll enjoy looking that up. England is suffering bee loses, unfortunately - some of the reasons known are pesticides on crops (although there is a temporary suspension on some of these at the moment), the varroa mite (accidentally imported and now weakening bee colonies), pollution, lack of forage as wild countryside disappears and poor weather. So much more research needs to be done.

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  27. Lovely pictures. I will call again as we are getting bees next year. Thank you for sharing.
    Sarah x

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    1. Hello Sarah and thanks for visiting. How exciting that you'll be getting bees of your own. I started with a couple of hives...and then doubled them...Keeping bees is very addictive! I look forward to following what you do.

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