The Year of the Bee continued.

Youlgrave Bee Group has just completed it’s first year of bee-keeping and I guess the thing we have learned most is how much there is to learn! We, or rather the bees, have managed to produce some honey this summer. It was for sale at the Carnival and the August Village Market, but in limited quantities: that was partly due to the weather and partly due to inexperienced bee-keeping. Hopefully, next year with more of the village growing bee-friendly plants and more of us gaining experience, as well as more of our members obtaining their own bees, there should be more honey . . . The end product is very much a partnership between bee-friendly villagers and bee keepers.
Talking of next year - although I get cross when charities send their Christmas catalogues early, I have to ask you to think about next spring right now, because now is the time to plan and plant the 2012 early food for bees. Bulbs such as crocuses are good, as well as wallflowers and early flowering perennials such as pulmonaria. To check on whether the plants you are planting are bee friendly look at the list on our blog at www.youlgravebees.org.
And finally - calling all bee-friends - there is an invitation for you to get more involved now and in the future. If you would like to come and observe while members of the bee group do one of their regular inspections, you are very welcome. We can only cater for one or two people at a time as we have to arrange for protective clothing for you, so if you would like to come please contact me (636550)or Steve Catchick (630009), or contact us through the blog.
Jeni Edwards.

Calling All Youlgrave Bee-Friends

A Bee-Spotting reminder

I think most people know what a bumble bee looks like – they-re the round furry ones which tend to make a lot of noise. Honey bees are smaller but if you look carefully you can see the pollen sacs (yes, that is how you spell it) on their back legs where they store the pollen to take back to the bee hive. There are hover flies which dress up like bees just to confuse everyone – but they have no pollen sacs. It is a fact that the colour of the pollen can tell a beekeeper exactly the kind of plant which the bees are feeding on.

Your job as a bee friend is to keep a look-out in your garden and on walks to see which plants the bees are collecting food from. Those are the plants we need to encourage and grow in our gardens, fields and open areas – and even if you don't want wild flowers in your garden, you can find a similar cultivated variety to plant, for example the blue cranesbill you see by the roadsides in summer is similar to the perennial geraniums you can buy from garden centres. And looking ahead, one of the valuable bee food plants in early spring is the wallflower, and now is the time to be sowing seed for them.

'Youlgrave Bee-Friends' Container flower competition.

Talking about growing plants, cast your thoughts forward to July. Television may flaunt its Chelsea or Tatton Park Flower Shows, but you have an opportunity to share your summer blooms at the Carnival on July 23rd, so start thinking about the flowers and the container you will use for them. The Container, we hope, will be part of the Carnival procession, so it will need to have its own wheels (old pram, bicycle etc.) or to be easily lifted on to a wheelbarrow – the more original the container the better.

The plants and flowers in the container will be judged on their bee friendliness. For a list of bee friendly plants see our blog at the youlgravebeegroup.blogspot.com.

Prizes : there will be a trophy and some honey, of course!

Entry Forms will be available at the Village Market on June 11th from the Produce Stall and thereafter from Jeni Edwards (call 636550).

Reminder of swarm alert numbers : Ian Weatherley 636350, Judith Orchard 630202 and Jeni Edwards 636550.

WHAT IS A BEE FRIEND?

As you may have heard, there are fewer honey bees around these days. This is not good - especially if you like honey!

Youlgrave people decided to do something about it.

Last year, the Youlgrave Bee Group was established. 13 people were trained to be bee-keepers and a small apiary (group of bee hives) was set up. But that’s only half the story. When one single beehive is busily making honey in May and June, there are something like 50,000 bees at work inside, and they require plenty of pollen and nectar from flowers to do the job.

Right. So we now have some bees. What we need to do next is to make sure they have enough to eat this summer to survive happily in our valley - and that’s where YOU come in!

Will you become a Youlgrave Bee-Friend?

Pollen and nectar for honey bees (and most other insects especially bumblebees and butterflies) are often found in plants with ‘open faces’ where you can see a ring of petals round a central group of stamens, or ones which are shaped especially for bee tongues to feed from. These are often plants growing wild like daisies and buttercups and clovers, but in our own gardens we can plant flowers which not only look beautiful but are useful for insects too.

The more flowers in the valley, the happier our bees will be! They will thrive and multiply and produce more and more honey which can be shared by the people who live here. We will also find that the crops from our fruit trees and vegetables will be better and larger as they are pollinated by busily feeding insects.

It’s simple to become a Youlgrave Bee Friend?

Just register here on our bee blog website or contact Jeni Edwards on 636550 or Judith Orchard on 630202.

Once registered, you will be eligible to buy packets of seeds for bee-friendly flowers for just 30p each. They will be available at the Youlgrave Village Market in the Village Hall from 10-12 noon on Saturday, 12th February. (Seeds ordered include alyssum, anchusa, antirrhinum, candytuft, cornflower, cosmos, dianthus, pot marigold (calendula), nasturtium and stock. All seeds are ordered as small varieties so they can be grown in pots.)

You will also be eligible to enter our exciting Wheeled Gardens competition to be held as part of the Youlgrave Carnival in July - and to join in with the big bee count this summer which will find out how many different kinds plant we can see bees feeding from in our villages?