Sustainable Garden Hive

The sustainable garden, situated in the beautiful Hamilton Gardens, is run on permaculture methods and values. It is completely spray and chemical free, has 2 chookies ( hens) that are let out of their coop each day to free range, the hen house is also shifted around the garden regularly so the girls can dig over and fertilise each plot, a flow-form water reticulation set-up, and last but certainly not least, a working bee hive !!
There are veges and flowers, herbs and fruit trees grown in this small garden, it is seasonal, rich in insects and birds ..

The hive is placed on a platform on top of a pergola, north facing and protected from the cold south westerly weather by a trellis affair. It is checked regularly by a local bee keeper, as I work down here in the Gardens for the Horticultural campus

of a teaching institution, I am going to ask if I can be the keeper of these bees.

There has been acouple of vandelism episodes where idiots have knocked the hive down, with any luck they got stung, but each time the bees have carried on regardless - such forgiving creatures ..

On a summers day, sitting under the vine covered trellis, if you listen carefully you will hear the contented hum of the bees ..

Actually, most people don`t even notice the hive of industry happening right above them, not unless they stop for awhile.

The bees have a wide range of flowering plants and trees to choose from, including this pretty cherry, Prunus campanulata or Tui tree as it is known here in NZ. The bright pink blossom attact Tui and other nectar drinking birds, it is also the first cherry to bloom - always a welcome sign of spring after a dreary winter. It is not a native tree, cherries being introduced here in the late 1890`s - it is a good source of nectar at this time of the year for native and exotic birds. The Tui in the picture below is sitting on a native flax, Phormium tenax, also another very rich in nectar plant - the bird`s long brush-like tongue getting right down into each flower for the sweet treat ! Tui are real characters, quite big birds with irridescent blue green/black feathers and a white tuft under the beak, also called the Parson bird for obvious reasons. They have an amazing range of song, from the sound of a creaky door right through to the most pure bell-like chiming. They imitate other birds and human sounds, including a chainsaw !