So, as some of you will be aware by now we've had chickens for 18 months. We presently have 6 birds, 1 Black Maran, 1 Speckledy, 1 Whitestar Leghorn, 1 Cambridge Blue and two Light Sussex bantams. They all lay, some of the time. The leghorn used to be daily but recently she is moulting (bad time of year for it if you ask me).
And now for the news, I said Birds & Bees; I’m going to start having Bees. I’ve joined our local Bee club and I’ve bought a couple of hives, one ‘commercial’ (style of hive) from ebay and one ‘deep national’ from a very nice chap on a beekeeping forum. Now I just need tools and protective clothes.
I’ve got 2 mentors of a sort, both ex-BBC, who have very different ideas on Bees, and a whole host of people locally from the Bee club I can talk to for advice, so I’m REALLY not going to go short there. Only problem is where to keep them, allotment people want a certificate of competence, which I won’t be seeing for 2 years or so, and one of the neighbours is a bit notorious at not liking anything we do; They called out the environmental health last Christmas because of the chickens, they arrived and said there was no problem whatsoever and we were doing everything we should have been doing.
So I am going to start in the garden and see how things go, unless I can find another location.
So either way I thought I’d use the body of this post to keep lots of useful info I’ve been discussing with people so I don’t loose it
]]> Craig Knox : I was lucky and started beekeeping when I was 13 in NZ, where there is one hive type, one strain of honeybee, and there didn’t seem to be too much nonsense spread around. In the UK it’s quite different, lots of conflicting information/opinions around, and quite confusing for new hobbyists.My neighbours are fine with the bees, I have 4 hives right against the shared wall, and about 10 mini nucs (little hives spread around the garden and kitchen roof. If I kept aggressive bees it might be a different story, but I go out of my way to keep bees that are pleasant to work with. It’s a hobby after all :)
I’ve got a couple of photos of bees up here, and you can see we don’t generally need protective gear.
One of the parks is council owned, and were really happy to let us keep bees there. The other is a park managed by TRUE (http://www.urbanecology.org.uk/) and they also were really happy for us to keep bees on their land. With TRUE we sometimes go down weekends and show people through the hives and teach them a little bit about bees - that’s kind of our rent.
The yellow blobs are the pollen loads they’re bringing back to the hive.
One tactic people use with neighbours similar to yours is to place empty hives out where they can see them. Then after they complain they’ve been stung by your bees, you can point out there aren’t any in there. Afterwards when you do get bees and they complain, you can point out they seem to have had the issue before you got bees.
With the bees I keep you don’t generally need a smoker, though there is one on hand in case. That photo with Dami was taken to make a point to some people who keep telling me you can’t have bees that docile. He’s doing a lot of the things that are said to make bees attack, ie wearing dark colours, drinking beer, etc.
Kids over is fine, I’m working at Canary Wharf, so will pop home at lunch and can meet you at Canada Water tube station, Wednesday or Thursday looks good weatherwise. I doubt there’ll be much chance after that till March next year as it’s getting quite a bit colder and my hives are wintering down.
With the queens I can give you advice about who is good, pros and cons, and how much they cost (I’m interested in genetics and breeding bees so have sampled a few suppliers), or if I have some raised (depends on work commitments) I can sell you some.
As to why people keep aggressive bees, there is a variety of reasons. Mostly people just don’t have enough exposure to what to expect. One of the people I’ve helped this year thought it was normal to be chased for quite a while after inspecting the hives.
Another big reason is queens come for free (ie you can easily raise one yourself), so it’s hard for people to work out why would you pay for one.
Then there are other myths such as aggressive bees produce more honey, etc.
One valid argument against buying good queens, is most of the good queen breeders don’t live in the UK. It’s mainly hobbyists over here, so it’s very difficult to a) find decent breeders b) have them supply you. So queens often have to be imported, and importing bees/queens increases the likehood of diseases being brought in.
There is a reasonable queen supplier in Liverpool who sells queens bred in Greece,
The best breeder I have found so far is: http://www.buckfast.dk/uk.htm, but they do cost more.
If you manage to find a swarm and collect it, it’d be free. The London beekeeper club collects swarms and establishes them and sells them on frames for £100, your local club/s might do something similar. Suppliers tend to sell bees on frames for £150-£200.
It’d probably cost £400-£500 to setup a hive (including bees). Second hand equipment is a little more riskier, but probably fine. You’d want to scorch the hive parts, and use new frames in them.
www.thorne.co.uk is the biggest supplier in the UK - they do a starter pack which might be good for most of the stuff you need. Big things like an extractor you can just borrow.
Queen bees available in the UK April to September
Auction Site www.bid4bees.co.uk
Hey, have you decided on what type of hive you will have? I don’t use a second brood box as my ones are large enough.
I space my frames by hand. Auto spacing can be good, but then it restricts you moving them around. Which one is best is just a matter of taste or what you’re used to
With swarm cells, I’m quite different it seems to most beekeepers in this country. They don’t seem to expect and don’t try and have better bees, so they would remove all by a couple at cells and let them naturally mate,
That’s a gamble at the best of times.
The queen would be substandard, possibly very defensive, and there is a risk of swarms/casts with leaving more than one cell. Plus, you’re selecting for swarmy bees, which is going to make your life more difficult.
I get rid of all the swarm cells, and try to fix the reason they want to swarm (which is mostly giving them more room)
With swarming, the most important thing is to get a queen from non swarmy stock. That will lower the chance of swarming. If in the case they do try and swarm, I would remove one frame of brood with the queen on it and setup a second hive in the original location, moving the original hive to a different nearby location.
The older flying bees will return to the original location leaving you with the queen in the original location with mainly older bees (just like if they’d swarmed), and you’ll have a new hive. This is better than letting them swarm naturally because you control where and when they do it, and there’s no break in the brood, which is healthier for the colony.
Lots of beginners often end up losing their hive because it swarms multiple times throughout the year, leaving few bees and little stores for the winter. They often find this stressful and disheartening, but when you consider they will often get a swarm and not requeen (so ending up with a queen who has proven to be swarmy), and stick with her offspring, it’s not very surprising.
With the new hive, I’d remove all visible queen cells and introduce a queen of known stock once I was certain there no queen.
With supercedure it tends to happen at the end of the season, I had one this year and just the replacement queen to it. I may requeen that colony at the beginning of the year.
Pauline :
Terry Thrussell and Ted Motton sell bees. Ted doesn’t do as many as Terry.
]]>So what I learnt today is that if you do :
User-agent: * Disallow: /a Disallow: /b
User-agent: Googlebot Disallow: /c
Google’s serach indexer will ignore the lines for User-agent: * and only read the ones specified specifically for itself. So /a, /b get indexed and /c does not
However :
User-agent: Googlebot Disallow: /c
User-agent: * Disallow: /a Disallow: /b
Then google will correctly not spider /a, /b or /c.
Although I can find no mention of this rule in ordering.
* UPDATE *
Ok, I’ve noted that Google does say this actually; and moreso that if you have a bot specific block then that bot will ignore the rules for all bots.
So I’ve had to go and paste rules into each and every specific bot section
But what I have learnt today (1 day later) is that if you leave blank lines in a user-agent block then some engines will disregard that instruction (Yandex). I also had fun reading translated russian webmaster guidelines
]]>So as a piece of commentary, I was going to say, why the Hell did they send in the American Special forces for a British Hostage. The Americans have a history of firendly fire (allegedly) and the SAS have a history of doing well at this kind of thing.
But apparently it was in the area owned, ahem, I mean controlled, by the Americans; and they knew the area better allegedly.
Still I think it shoulf have been the Brits doing the work with support, if nothing else it is going to strain relations ‘if’ it proves to be that it the Americans grenaded the poor woman.
There have been a few comments on the web though about how much the American media stated so categorically to start with that it was a terroist bomb vest, detonated by the terrorists that did the dammage.
]]>________________________________________
From: Nick Holmes
Sent: 09 August 2010 10:52
Subject: Elvis has left the building...
So it is my sad duty to announce my departure from the BBC.
After 12 years, 5 months, 4 days, and 8 hours, (or 648 weeks, 4538 days or 21.6 months of Sundays), of service to the BBC, my role and I have cast off to find other shores.
In a time before Dinosaurs walked the BBC Online world (http://web.archive.org/web/20000815054825/www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/) I started as a fresh faced 22 year old, working on the BBC's Trusted Guide to the internet, above the post office on Shepherds Bush Green. One of my first technical queries was, "So where are the technical production guidelines, you know the way you build websites", to which I was told there were none and there began my grand mission.
Brought in by the famous BBC Online names of old, (the late) Helen Gill, Sheila Sang, Jo Gausden and Scott Gronmark, I was annointed with the purpose to serve the public. After just over a year I was elevated to the role of team leader, and stayed there happy in my evolving role and responsibilities; until in recent years the apple cart was upset by reorganisation after reorganisation, and finally resolving to my departure.
In so many ways I will be unhappy to leave the BBC, and I will always have good memories of working with so many wonderful people and fighting the good fight with others, striving to put right what once went wrong. Oops, is that 'Quantum Leap' or just the last thing delivered a day before launch. Either way I was fortunate and grateful to have had so many spins of the wheel.
I will forever remember the Client-side Development team, that I was proud and honoured to be part of for so long, the brilliant efforts contributed, watching people grow in their roles and capability, watching them blossom and go on to bigger and better things, holding back the lump in my throat and the tear in my eye. The team Christmases with Secret santa presents, the team mp3 collation, team Christmas parties and a can of spam left in a desk draw to go off for a fortnight (yes, you Mr Maslen). The SSI tools made in 2001 and retired 12 months later due to lack of management support, which are still in use today on the site. The BBC Opensource site I built in my own time, with no design (clearly) or editorial resource, with no management support or funding, just a tall ship and a star to steer her by. The 43 minute site, from concept by Tony Ageh and Gareth Ford Williams, to publication (under its own tld no less). What would a farewell be without mention of Barley (and nav5 in all its permutations, 4 and 3) that I made so many years ago, so many memories, so many wrestles between creativity and individuality of sites and conformity of being part of the BBC, tied up in code.
I will remember the Standards & Guidelines - creativity, standardisation, politics and bun fights. The way that they were (are) held up outside the BBC as a guiding light in other development teams both domestic and foreign (as is turns out). The browser standards, the download standard, the accessibility standards, the great and all encompassing(x)html integrity standard, that was the father to them all, to name but a few. The versions that were never agreed and so never saw the light of day (SEO, Downloads v2, XSSI, Semantic Markup and so many more).
I remember doing charity work through the BBC, helping on school kids projects to get them into web building, building community sites for underprivileged areas of Hull. Equally helping various people to start learning a bit of html here and there to progress their careers or just make their own community websites. I remember doing roadshows round the nations and regions offices talking about accessibility, CSS and other web tech; I'm still sad I never made it to Belfast, but they know how to make someone welcome in BBC Scotland :-). I remember being in TVC on the millennium, updating the site as Big Ben chimed, waiting to see if the technical world melted down from the y2k bug; updating the children in need site on the night as photos, stories and new totals came in; getting free pizza while launching the first BBC toolbar, only to find that schools had not built the site, which they had argued so hard to have included on the list of linked sites.
I remember the camaraderie of Bush House bar (leading to a pseudo wife, wonderful 2 children and a home in the commuter belt), the family of the development team (with the occassional dodgy uncle), the New Media Christmas parties (with amusing stories to tell from each), the caring environment where appraisals and objectives were something positive, rather than the one time a year you'd get a proper line management conversation. The training and mentoring, the idealism and values, the BBC we once were.
Macbeth, Act 5, scene 5, 19-28
"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
I had to learn that at school, and seems so pertinent now at the end of all things. I only hope that some will say I made a positive difference, once.
And so, as the die is cast, I bid adieu, I would leave a final note with another :
Admiral Horatio Nelson, The Battle of Trafalgar (October 21, 1805)
"When I am without orders and unexpected occurrences arrive
I shall always act as I think the honour and glory of my King and Country demand."
"Thank God, I have done my duty."
yours
Nick Holmes
]]>As I speak their launch window has 1hr 13 minutes to run (1500 UTC Friday 2nd June 2010), and there is no sign on their site that they have launched yet.
Oh hang on, they had an unexpected issue as the rocket stalled aborting the launch…
shame…
]]>for now I've imported all the cight.com entries here...
]]>So here is a one two punch for you for the scales. First you can use either Isopropyl Alcohol mixed at a ratio of 7 to 1. 7parts water to 1 part Alcohol. That will kill the little buggers. Then to repel them you will need to make a journey to the produce market and pick up one Garlic bulb 1 onion, and some Cyanne Pepper. Put in in the food processor and Puree. Then put that into a quart of water and boil for 5 minutes. Strain the Elixir through some cheese cloth and allow to cool. Add a table spoon of dish soap and spray your plants. Now some may suggest the predatory beetles but after they eat all the scales they leave and then what happens when the scales come back and the beetles are gone on another tour.
Now about the weed seeds in the compost pile. HEAT is the cure. The Pile has to be generating at least a 140 degrees of heat or better. So How do you do that?
If you have access to a High Nitrate animal fertilizer you are in business. Chicken, sheep, goat, have a very high nitrate levels which generates lots of heat in compost.
But if you don't have access to that kind of heat there are other ways! You can go to the nursery and find and Organic bagged fertilizer that has a very high Nitrogen level. and mix that in with the compost and then take a 1 liter bottle of coke and a large can of really cheap beer/ale/stout and let both beverages go flat. Blend them and mix them with 2 quarts of water and spray the pile. Inside and out. So that means you will turn the pile and then spray turn and spray until you run out of spray. Then cover the whole pile with Black Plastic. If you don't have one I suggest you purchase a compost thermometer. Now in the event that the Pile gets into the 220 degree plus zone you will need a length of plastic pipes with some holes drilled in the sides 3/8 inch or better so you can vent the pile so that it doesn't burst into flame. But if your pile does get really warm bring the Kettle It will make a nice pot of tea. And in short order to.
So that should put and end to the weed seed issue.
Thanks to Jeff Strong for all this advice
]]>Back to recent events, first in August ‘09 I went to Gibraltar to try it out, doing a Competent Crew RYA course with Trafalgar Sailing. I enjoyed it so much I figured I’d go on to try to get certification so I could take a boat out myself. In October I started on my Day Skipper Theory, doing it weekends in Greenwich with OnDeck. Then at the end of the season (3rd November, Brrr) I went out for a weekend with a club that were doing an introductory weekend.
So later today I’m going to start my Day Skipper practical in the Menai straits, North Wales, with Plas Menai. I met the nice people from Plas Menai at the Southampton boat show and they were very friendly, so I have high hopes. The only worry is that Windfinder has winds predicted for Monday (tomorrow) and Tuesday at 27knots (Force 6-7, 31mph) , Met Office saying it will be gusting to 45mph Force 8, aka Gale. So that’s either going to be worrying or stop us going out.
Well, I’ll try to take pictures and put them up on flickr with the tag sailing
]]>The hybreed was the first and used to have a ‘sister’ but she died within 2 weeks of buying her from a local breeder. We had already had 2 chickens which we took back because they were infested with lice, so it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise.
When she died some good friends of ours who live in Somerset, Alex and Gavin, were coming to visit us and very kindly brought us the light sussex bantams from a breeder near where they lived. When they arrived they looked like pigeons rather than chickens, as they were about 5-6 weeks old.
We got the White Leghorn and the Bluebelle from some extremely nice people at Cambridge Poultry. I would deffinitely say I would recommend them, although its a bit of a trek from where we live.
]]>
Looking out across London there is a HUGE fire apparently at, at waterden road, straford, just where they are goig to do the olympics.
The london fire brigade latest news said "Incident - Waterden Road
Eight fire engines and around 40 firefighters are currently attending an incident on Waterden Road, East London. The Brigade was called at 1206."
So I'm at web 2.0 expo this week. It's starting well. I've learned how to optimise and fiddle re SEO stuff.
I also learnt if you get a speaker that likes the sound of his own voice too much then all the lunches are gone when you come out. (poor mark).
update - no coffee and wireless only works well when you can get an IP address, sat through 2hrs with no connections... wont drop my connection again...
]]>So we started assembling the pieces of the greenhouse, first wrong (argh), then a different wrong (ARGH). After a little while longer we got a side bit right and finished. Sadly rain and poor light conditions stopped play at the point.
Next morning we were at it again early, assembling the other side, the ends (wrong, wrong, right, I blame the instructions, none too clear) and the roof. I have to mention at this point it was raining, windy and bloody cold, my fingers had the feeling of sausages unless I stopped to warn them every 20 minutes. Then we carried the whole lot over and put in on the base (after a short fight with the neighbours bush), finding out only that we hadn't got one end right, and had to do a quick turnaround of the baseplate. That done, I tied the base to the upper part, then we made the door and the frame for the window in the roof.
Then we started putting the glass in. You know that part where they tell you to wear gloves when handling glass, well its best to listen to advice like that. I got a fair few shallow cuts, mostly from the evil clips, then managed to take a nice slice out the end of my right little finger. If only my hands we're carrying insurances as big as most houses' contents insurance plans are, I would be rich by now. So bandaged up with some shiny children's plasters, we carried on until we had the roof glazed, all except the last bit of glass. Wouldn't you know it, it didn't fit !! I'll be having words with B&Q tomorrow, every piece of glass 610mm wide, except this one! So close of play again, having worked through the rain, coming down at 45%, and the cold, we were defeated by the loss of light to work by again, and shoddy materials.
]]>So my Dad and I started out early Saturday morning. Deciding to start by levelling off the soil and lowering it to it would line up next to the summerhouse. All was fine and then we hit a distraction. Potatoes, and dozens of them. Many of them where starting to grow again, many fell to the slice of the azada or the shovel, but there were still a fair haul left. Then we continued, levelling, trenching, laying slabs for the base of the greenhouse. Finally we had all the slabs in place, and put the base of the greenhouse down, which was a 5" half box section piece of aluminium. It didn't look like it would take the weight of a greenhouse...
So we started assembling the pieces of the greenhouse, first wrong (argh), then a different wrong (ARGH). After a little while longer we got a side bit right and finished. Sadly rain and poor light conditions stopped play at the point.
Next morning we were at it again early, assembling the other side, the ends (wrong, wrong, right, I blame the instructions, none too clear) and the roof. I have to mention at this point it was raining, windy and bloody cold, my fingers had the feeling of sausages unless I stopped to warn them every 20 minutes. Then we carried the whole lot over and put in on the base (after a short fight with the neighbours bush), finding out only that we hadn't got one end right, and had to do a quick turnaround of the baseplate. That done, I tied the base to the upper part, then we made the door and the frame for the window in the roof.
Then we started putting the glass in. You know that part where they tell you to wear gloves when handling glass, well its best to listen to advice like that. I got a fair few shallow cuts, mostly from the evil clips, then managed to take a nice slice out the end of my right little finger. So bandaged up with some shiny children's plasters, we carried on until we had the roof glazed, all except the last bit of glass. Wouldn't you know it, it didn't fit !! I'll be having words with B&Q tomorrow, every piece of glass 610mm wide, except this one! So close of play again, having worked through the rain, coming down at 45%, and the cold, we were defeated by the loss of light to work by again, and shoddy materials.