The world of potatoes is remarkably diverse, although this might not be all that evident from the shelves of the supermarket or greengrocer. According to the International Potato Center – yes, there really is such a thing – there are more than 4500 varieties growing in the Andes, the ancestral home of the potato. The… Continue reading Potato Epicure
Month: June 2014
Newly mated queen is doing well
Some weeks ago we dealt with a colony with some aggressive tendencies by removing the queen. One week later we went through the hive carefully and removed all of the queen cells. We checked again a few days later to be certain that no queen cells remained. By doing this, we prevented the bees from… Continue reading Newly mated queen is doing well
When is a Peche de Vigne not a Peche de Vigne?
A couple of years ago we bought a young peach tree, a Peche de Vigne, from Dobies and planted it in the polytunnel. The first tree was damaged and a replacement was sent later in the year. I have been really looking forward to trying the fruit and this year it bore for the first… Continue reading When is a Peche de Vigne not a Peche de Vigne?
Missing queen
Once again there is another beekeeping disappointment to report. In my last post, I mentioned that we had a colony with slightly aggressive tendencies and had forced them to replace the queen with some larvae from a frame provided by another colony of very nice bees. Hopefully, offspring from the first crossing will still retain… Continue reading Missing queen
Recent sowing and planting
The blog has been rather slow lately, with nearly one month since my last post. Partly, at least, one must blame this lazy blogger. In my defence, we have been busy with various other things, and the garden has reached that maintenance phase where the mad rush of propagating and planting out slows down to… Continue reading Recent sowing and planting