Bees in the Antipodes

Spring has Sprung !

2011-10-02T21:05:00.000+13:00

Spring has finally arrived here in Aotearoa with the unpredictable weather, brilliant blue-sky days and blossom everywhere. The spring equinox winds tend to blow the blossom in a flutter of white, covering the lawn. Daisys smother the grass amid bright dandelions - banquet for beezzz

Tulips in the Hamilton Gardens look amazing, all planted out in their colours and blooming in time for the festival. The bulbs are lifted by the gardeners each year after flowering, stored then planted again next year - a huge job as there are thousands of bulbs !

Native tree, Rewarewa, displays its beautiful, rust-red flowers bursting open into yellow tubes that the bees and birds seek out.

Kowhai flowers shine butter yellow, attracting nectar drinking birds - I have a flock of wax-eyes that visit in the afternoons flitting around after the bugs. This time of the year in the southern hemisphere there is a certain feel in the air, a light brightness, noisy blackbirds and raucous tui . . . New, bright green delicate leaves on the deciduous trees - the smell of fresh rain in the air . .

Piwakawaka darting . . .

2011-07-02T21:52:00.000+12:00

My beautiful Piwakawaka, NZ Fantail, a very sweet little native bird that inhabits most of NZ - a tiny wee bird that flits around catching bugs in the air, follows me around the garden flying very close, catching the bugs I disturb.
This amazing work is by a woman called Kate Hill, a very clever artist from Hamilton. I love the stitching of the birds and leaves she has done .

Pieces of my Day. . .

2011-06-21T22:32:00.000+12:00

A wee Wax-Eye enjoying the nectar in the Red Hot Pokers or Knifofia sp in the Gardens this morning, , these south African flowers always make me smile on dreary winter days.

I went for a wander through the cemetery above the Gardens today, the detail on this old gravestone caught my eye - an old curtain with tassel. I feel very peaceful walking around reading the lichen covered stone, trying to decipher the words - my only company being a solitary blackbird . .

A beautiful card my youngest daughter, Ellena, sent me for Mothers Day in May - my girls always pick lovely cards for me, they know what I like and poke around in book shops looking for that special one that Mum will like ! She found this in the Victoria University bookshop in Wellington. .

This is the funky birthday card my eldest daughter, Meg, made for me this birthday - her quirky paintings are popular with many people - I love her work, she is so clever . .

Moon Balloons !

2011-05-22T10:44:00.000+12:00

Full moon over Aotearoa (NZ) this week, an amazing yellow globe that shone all night, lightening up my bathroom in the early hours ! My lovely cousin in Christchurch reminded me that the 2 major earhquakes they had, in Sept and Feb, happened at full moon times - I can understand how scary full moons are to those traumatized . .

On a misty morning during the week, I walked out my door and was greeted by this beautiful sight ! The hot air balloons are usually up and well away by this time of the morning, but it was a foggy start, so typical of Hamilton winters, so it was about 11.00am. I do have a dream of going up in one of these floating baskets, it is quite expensive, but will do before I get to old !

They got so close we could wave !! We have a balloon festival here each April with many coming from overseas - if the weather is fine it is a fantastic time - balloons landing in school grounds and parks, even the odd street !

Aotearoa (NZ) Autumn and Christchurch . . .

2011-05-15T14:10:00.000+12:00

The colour of autumn is abundant here in Aotearoa - dried, brilliantly coloured leaves are falling to the ground, making a carpet of stunning reds,purple, orange and gold.
Red maple or Acer rubra is one of the first maples here to loose leaves - all shades of red, the first to bud in the spring. Like many exotic trees from the northern hemisphere, maples thrive in our temperate climate, adding their bright colours to our many hues of green that our native trees display.

The pics below I took in Christchurch last weekend - it was quite painful to see this beaitiful city so broken . . . Having experienced 2 large earthquakes and many large aftershocks since last Sept, this city known as the `garden city` is like a 3rd world country war zone in places.

Signs like this abound all through the badly damaged areas, including the CBD - it is truly heart-breaking to see so many beautiful old buildings fallen, rubble everywhere - just the sounds of demolition and birds. I can`t see the city rebuilding in this place - CHCH was originaly build on marsh land, this very evident after the shocks, with the dreaded liquifaction, a nasty smelling grey, gritty substance bubbling up from underground, spreading through the street and homes.

One example of an old building with the walls being braced, saw many with all the bricks lying in piles - it took many weeks to get power and water back on to thousands of people - very hard for us to comprehend.

A row of shops and the Catholic cathedral, just a small portion of buildings to be completely demolished - very sad to witness. .

The people of CHCH seem resiliant, but I know many are very anxious with all the after shocks still happening - I felt a decent 4. something shock while in Lyttelton - rocked the building I was in.There is such a huge amount of work still to do, it may take years - also costly ! I am sure this lovely city will rise up out of the bricks with a totally different look . .

GREEN BEES

2011-04-27T17:59:00.000+12:00

GREEN BEES

NATURAL SUSTAINABLE BEEKEEPING IN NZ.

My honey bees Apis mellifera, are precious in more ways than one. . . Some people understand that without our food plants being pollinated, except for the likes of rice and some cereals, we humans will be existing on a very bland diet indeed, others don`t understand at all ! What most don`t understand, is the tiny honey bee, which was imported to our shores in the 1830`s, is the main contributor to this vital job, one which it is finding harder and harder to accomplish. But hey, there have always been enough bees haven`t there ? Once there were, but now there is a huge decline in their numbers due to many issues, I do believe it has been mainly brought on by mans selfishness, his idea that the bee is here for our use and of course, don`t forget, the mighty dollar. Varroa arrived on our shores around 2000, decimating many hives and putting beekeepers out of business. Many hobbyist beekeepers just gave up, not wanting to bother treating their bees twice a year, but our numbers are on the rise again, thanks to many younger and not so young bee enthusiasts learning about bees, planting gardens and orchards, realising they need bees for pollination !

Honey bees have long been part of human life, providing much needed sweetness, light from candle wax, and most importantly, the pollination of over 40% of what we eat. Up until Rev Langstroth discovered removable frames, humans lived with bees in a fair relationship, each providing the other with what they needed ie habitat, flowering plants, honey and wax.

With products from the hive including honey, pollen, wax and propolis earning beekeepers a tidy sum, things changed rapidly, leaving the bees stranded in a place of disease and illness. . their numbers declining, their health declining, with their ability to fight.. slowly declining ..

We will loose our bees unless attitudes change, food as we know it will change considerably, life as we know it will change beyond our comprehension – sounds abit over the top? I don`t think so, and neither do many other worried bee keepers. I feel very strongly that until many of the established ways of beekeeping, here in NZ and world-wide, change from how much money can be made from keeping bees, to how can we care wisely, working with these insects in a way that will benefit both parties, with the bees being the major beneficiary of our kindness and knowledge we now have regarding the use of pesticides and other chemical nasties.

Honey bees evolved with Angiosperms, flowering plants, millions of years ago – each supplying the other with the exact life sustaining substance it needs. During this time, bees along with other pollinating insects and birds dealt with many life threatening changes, over time adjusting and continuing to pollinate, plants providing the proteins and sugars needed to keep the insects healthy, the bees transferring pollen from flower to flower, thus continuing the cycle of life . .

So, my plea to all who care for our planet and its inhabitants, next time you see honey bees, bumble bees, other insects in your garden or wild places, think of what you can do to make their short lives free of starvation (plant bee food), free of contamination ( don`t use chemicals of any kind), free of homelessness ( keep a hive, maybe a TopBar hive, in your garden) - it does not take much effort at all . . trust me

Marcia Meehan ( an article I wrote recently for a magazine )

ANZAC in Aotearoa . . .

2011-04-25T19:32:00.001+12:00

On the 25th April 1915, thousands of NZ and Australian solders along with many, many other allied solders were thrust ashore onto the Turkish beach, Gallipoli, under constant gun fire from Turkish army above them. It was total bloodshed and miserably managed, so much unnecessary death and injury.
96 yrs on, this day is always remembered by New Zealanders and Australians with dawn services across the countries, solemn church services, young and old marching together . . .to remember them.

For many years, Ellena and I have put the red Flanders poppy the RSA men sell, on the cenotaph in Hamilton. Now it is just myself and my thoughts . . . My paternal Grandfather, Mick Meehan, went away to WW1 , a glorious adventure, he was only 20, a young farming boy from Wanganui. He came home shattered, not so much in body but needed time to sort his emotions out at Hamner Springs, which was then used as a rehabilitation center for war veterans. He was a gentle, loving man who raised a family and worked hard.

The cenotaph by the river here in Hamilton, this was yesterday before the rain and the wreaths, put there today. The solders, men and women from each war NZ has taken part in, march slowly across the Victoria bridge at dawn, gathering in silence beside the cenotaph. What is quite amazing, is the number of young people there - wonderful to see them listening and learning about what their Grand and G Grand parents did for their country.
A special day, a day for reflection - today seemed ideal . . . wet and gloomy.

Waiheke Day ..

2011-04-05T11:02:00.000+12:00

Goodbye Auckland, see you tonight - this was me on Sunday, 8.00am, on the ferry to Waiheke Island. I had not been to this island before, heard heaps about it, but like lots of things, one of the many places in my lovely country that I had yet to visit . . . I always knew the Waitamata harbour and Hauraki gulf had many islands dotted around, but was amazed at how many there were. Even at that hour of the day, there were small boats out with fishermen trying their luck - a cherry wave as we lumbered past.
It was a gorgeous day; slight breeze, blue sky and sparkly sea - after the stress with my job that has been happening lately, this was just what I needed - a total change of pace !

My first close-up sight of Waiheke, deep green water with native bush growing down to the shore line. I had taken my car over, so once we docked, I drove up the windy road to the cliff top, meandering my way to the little village of Oneroa.

My first stop was at the Steiner Kindy Fair where I gave a 30min introduction to a large crowd about TopBar hives. The fair had lots of interesting stalls - yummy food, beautiful handmade crafts, old fashioned games for kids with an amazing medieval court set up, complete with wooden horses, big ones, that ran along railway tracks so you could do the jousting thing ! Music playing and many happy people - a very nice vibe throughout ... my huge thanks to Christy, www.islandgardening.com for inviting me over to her special island.

The view from the cafe in Oneroa where I had lunch. There were lots of little sail boats out and about.. Waiheke Is has many sheltered bays, really picturesque, even at this time of the year. The population is around 8000 with many more over the summer and weekends - lots of holiday places, big and small, with most of what you need on the island. It is a 45 min ferry ride from Auckland, just enough time to enjoy the sea air and views.

Oneroa Bay is where I ran my TopBar Hive workshop - this the view of the bay from the rather lovely winery/b&b owned by Christy and hubby, where we all sat out on the decking in the sunshine.
The land down to the water is a wetland, the surrounding hills are covered in manuka - Christy`s bees have a great choice ! With guests expected, we moved back to the Kindy and concluded the day sitting around the table, coffee and tea and chat.

This is my lovely group of enthusiastic TopBar beekeepers to be ! I did so enjoy my day with all these lovely friendly folk, was invited back in the spring to check out their beezzz and you can be sure I will be there !

The car ferry on its way to Waiheke and my journey home . . . I was back in Hamilton in 2 hours, so really, it is not a long trip, a trip I will be making again, this time I think I will organize a `girls` weekend, there are so many other places to discover on Waiheke, stunning scenery, friendly locals - a small slice of NZ to treasure ..

Herb for Bees - Autumn food !

2011-03-22T21:31:00.000+13:00

Lemon verbena or Aloysia citrodora would be one of my most favorite herbs. It is flowering profusely in the Herb Garden at Hamilton Gardens, filling the area with its bewitching lemony scent.

Native to many parts of South America, this plant was taken to Europe in the 18th Century, where it became very popular and used in alot of different cooking styles. In Victorian times it was simply known as `the lemon plant` Today Lemon Verbena is used to flavor meat and fish dishes, puddings, cakes, my favorite being a refreshing drink infused with crushed leaves, left to cool and add soda water for a sparkling beverage !

Along with Solidago (Golden Rod), this beautiful bushy small shrub flowers late summer, early autumn, providing much needed nectar/pollen for honey bees and other pollinating insects, the white/pinkish flowers cover the plant. It does need to be planted in a warm, frost free spot and cut back hard each autumn after flowering as it tends to get straggly - but nothing else can compare with Lemon verbena for the best lemon scent after an actual lemon !

Autumn is near . . .

2011-03-09T20:49:00.000+13:00

The beautiful vase-shaped hips from Rosa moysii with lots of tiny black seeds ready to fall out everytime you shake them. I remember when my children were babies you could buy rosehip syrup which was diluted with water, providing a great source of Vitamin C ! It most probably was full of sugars ! You can`t buy it now.

I cut one open to taste, it was quite sweet and I would imagine a very nice drink could be made - I must google it ! I have added the remaining hips to my `autumn` collection ..

Allium flowers, bees love these pretty white umbels which planted en mass look rather gorgeous I think. Autumn is my favorite season, I so look forward to the days closing in, mellow golden light, cool temps, leaves changing colour - I know it is the ending of the life cycle for many plants, but I feel so energized and alive !!

Miss Bee coming into land with golden rod filled pollen baskets - the bees in the hives at the Sustainable garden in the Hamilton Gardens are still out and about each sunny day. The solidago is one of the last herbs to flower during late summer/ early autumn here in NZ, everything else in the herb garden having reached the end of their flowering. Lemon balm is flowering profusely at the moment, the smell of the flowers and leaves is divine, I must grow more bushes of it next year.

A Small Detour into My Past . . .

2011-02-27T15:54:00.000+13:00

On the road they call `the Forgotten Highway` which winds its way alongside the Wanganui river from Taumarunui, there is Herlihy`s bluff to negotiate. In the 45 years ( yes . . .45yrs !) since I drove over this now tar-sealed road, there have been afew changes, one being the shifting of the road itself, to a lower level cut out of the cliff side after a person was killed by falling boulders. It has never been a safe place to dally, even with the magnificent views of the river on the other side of the road !

The first major change I found on the journey into my past was. . MY BRIDGE HAD GONE !! Far out, I couldn`t believe what I was seeing. Where was the wonderful old wooden Te Maire bridge that you could walk over as well as drive across the rattly boards ?? All I could see was this concrete 2-way eye-sore,(so sad to find the big old end bits sitting amongst the bush on either side) - no character at all, built 8yrs after we left the district. Oh well I thought, nothing else can get any worse . . how wrong was I .

Metal, windy valley road, bush-lined for most of the way - old Kahikatea, Totara and Rimu dripping in lichen - cool, a million hues of green - NZ bush I remember. This part was thankfully the same, right down to the tree ferns and sound of Tui. . .

On past the bee hives and angry looking bull, around very tight corners, remembering when my mother, in the family tank (Vanguard car) rounded such corner to collide head on with a horse !! There really isn`t anywhere to pull over, you just have to be extremely good at maneuvering in tiny spaces . . . At the end of the road is the farm `Patunga` where I spent the first 12 formidable yrs of my life - a large sheep and cattle station. Slowly around the last corner I crept, dust flying up behind me, expecting to catch a glimpse of the 102yr old homestead and . . . . . no orchard or hillside, just a newly built add-on glaring down at me - I swear I nearly drove off the road !! Whaaaaat is this ? where are the big old 100yr trees, the walnut with swing, the ponga summer house, the fantastic old veranda, the gardens my mother always had looking so pretty, I drove into the driveway and again . . where is the tall shubbery that we played in - the old cattle-stop was still there, but the house looked so unlike it was in my memory that I cried. No one was home, which was a good thing really, as I must have looked a sight - a crying crazy lady . . .

Feeling sad and emotional, I drove back down the valley road, across the ugly bridge, up past my old school site which is on the farm that once belonged to good friends, whose children I had spent many happy days with, ( one of the sons, Ross, married my cousin), the school closed down many years ago with the building being used as a haybarn, thats another crying story that I won`t get into yet !! Across the road from the school stands the Te Whakarae Hall, once the pride and joy of this spread-out farming community, the scene of many country dances ( I can still see my parents getting dressed up in their best clothes, my mother with her bright lipstick, sparkly necklace and swirling dress ( it is the 50`s remember), my handsome Dad in strides and sports jacket), the men in one corner with the beer, the women around the kitchen end, fern leaves decorating the walls and powder on the wooden floor for dancing. This hall was used for meetings, Womens Division days, sports events, especially badminton tournaments, plus any school function was held there - now it is derelict and abandoned. . . I know times have changed, life has moved on from those long summer days, but you know, I do wonder if it is always for the best, there was such a sense of belonging .. it did tug on my heart strings.

Tears for Christchurch - all NZ weeps . . .

2011-02-23T17:42:00.000+13:00

All New Zealand weeps for our beautiful city Christchurch and her people. . .

A second major earthquake in 6 months has devastated the central part of the city with damage also across the city and surrounding areas. With the time of day ( 1.00pm) yesterday, and the fact that there was already damage from the Sept quake, many deaths and injuries have occurred. People are still trapped under huge piles of rubble, many buildings collapsed, it looks like a war zone you would see on tv in another place, not our peaceful, stunningly beautiful country. . .

There has been an out-pouring of grief, most of us either have family and friends living in CHCH or know someone who has, it is very hard for us as a people to get our heads around a disaster of this magnitude, we have has so few over the time of settlement. Godszone, that is what we have always been called - safe and secure . . our world has been rocked and will never be the same again ..

I love Trees

2011-02-10T21:45:00.000+13:00

Isn`t she beautiful ? This old cherry tree grows in Memorial Park along side the Waikato river which runs through my city. She is literally being held together with leather straps and a post ! With giant cracks and bora holes in the stumps, this old tree still manages to put on a stunning display of blossom in the spring and a leafy canopy over summer.

Held together with a large band and metal clip sort of thingie - this and the post is holding the tree together and from the branches hitting the ground.

It took me awhile to find this tag, but I am glad I did and very pleased to see my old tree protected - Hamilton does not have a good record when it comes to protecting trees . . . I have known of many 100yr old and older trees that have been cut down by developers, really sad as we don`t have that many old trees, they were planted by the Hamilton Beautification Society in the late 1800 early 1900`s, these are mainly exotics - lots of Elms, Oaks and other English species were grown and planted.

Even with a long crack in the branch the old tree still manages to grow new wood each year, bloom beautifully and contribute to our breathing with her leaves - trees are the earth`s lungs . .

Pressings . . .

2011-02-02T19:05:00.000+13:00

One of my most loved past times is collecting, drying, pressing and mounting plant samples. I started my own herbarium ( collection of dried flora) 10 years ago when I went back to study, for part of my horticultural course I had to collect 100 different species of trees, shrubs, natives, annuals and bulbs, identify them correctly, dry and press them and write the corect infomation, including their latin names ! I found a passion I never knew I had, since then I have continued to add to my herbarium which has come in very handy a number of times when I needed to identify a plant.
I find some of the pressings are so beautiful I want to frame them so I can enjoy them all the time !

Pansy flowers are so easy to press - pick up a book out of my library and you more then likely will have a pansy or two drop into your lap, all dried softly crinkled and smelling faintly of the garden - summer memories ..

Even seed heads from common little garden plants look amazing - their beauty lasts for such a long time, especially if the herbarium is kept in a dry airy place, don`t ever get it damp as some plants can mildue very quickly.
I use tiny daps of a clear craft glue to attach the plant material to the acid-free paper once I make certain all of the plant is completely pressed, laying the plant on the paper in a natural position. If the leaves are to long or wide cut them straight along the edge of the paper. Another thing to look for is the different undersides of leaves, turn one over to display.
The job I would give my back teeth for is to work in a famous herbarium like Kew Gardens in the UK or maybe at the museum in Auckland here in NZ - anywhere there is a pile of dried, dusty old plants . .

Precious Memories

2011-01-25T11:54:00.001+13:00

MEMORIES

Most of my school holidays from the age of 7yrs until we left the King Country when I was 13yrs old were spent with my Grandmother. (Nana)

Breakfast in bed, a luxury never allowed at home, singing together and hours spent pouring over old photo albums and reliving her childhood, these things I remember so clearly. This woman wrapped me up in a cocoon of love and safety. She taught me to look at the smallest things on our long walks, insects, leaves and stones gathered up and arranged neatly on the table, where we discussed and marvelled at the beauty. Sitting out on the front steps in the sun, brushing her long white hair, plaiting and re-plaiting, tying it up in all sorts of strange ways – she even used to let me pluck her eyebrows!

Every week day morning at precisely 10.00 am we sat down with a cup of tea and usually a large slice of deliciously light sponge cake, made with blue shelled duck eggs, baked in an old coal range, to listen to `Doctor Paul` and ` Portia faces Life`, both long running radio serials which my Nana never missed and I became enthralled with. For an hour we forgot where we were, the sound of dogs barking and my Grandfather's gruff voice bringing us back to reality.

The farm house was built at the end of a very long driveway which meandered up a steep clay hillside. Planted in large groups were many exotic trees including wonderful Liquidambars which glowed red, yellow and orange in autumn. I can never see these trees now without instantly being transported in my mind, back to my Grandmothers home. After the leaves had fallen the hillsides were smothered in huge yellow daffodils, another memory I treasure. Nana and I in our coats and gumboots early in the morning picking armfuls of sweet smelling daffodils for the house and to give to her elderly neighbours a mile or so down the valley.

Nana had a pet Paradise duck called Milly. This spoilt pet followed her everywhere, even inside if she could. Every May my Grandfather and 2 uncles, Paul and Ian, would go duck shooting on the dam at the back of the farm, one year they brought home this tiny duckling – an unusual thing for these men to do as they were not really into pets, except maybe for the fox terrier the boys had and even she had to earn her living by chasing rabbits out of burrows to be caught in a net. My Grandfathers working dogs were certainly not made a fuss of, they were never allowed inside the back gate.

Milly however, became Queen of the house and garden, the dogs were very wary of her , the cat never went near her after the first and only run-in they had – the duck won! Milly was so expressive, she had a large repertoire of calls and she was a very good watchdog. If she didn't recognise someone they ended up dancing from foot to foot trying to escape the peaking beak and strong flapping wings. She adored my Grandmother, they could often be found sitting together on the front porch in the late afternoon sun, Nana snoozing and Milly dreaming with tiny soft noises.

Paradise ducks mate for life, when Milly found her mate and eventually left, Nana missed her very much but I think the slugs and snails in the garden were happy she had gone.

My two youngest uncles are only 4 and 5 years older then me, my Mother being one of the oldest of the eight children my Grandparents had. These two boys used every opportunity they had to tease me unmercifully. If they weren't sitting on me and tickling me till I cried, they were frightening me with awful scary stories. I remember their outside bedroom with the walls covered in deer and pig heads and their guitars and mouth organs I was told never to touch – well, that proved an irresistible reason to sneak in while they were not there and touch these forbidden musical instruments. They were both crack shots with a 22 rifle and also deadly with slingshots, practising every day with tin cans lined up along the fence posts. Possum shooting was an experience with these two boys, being allowed out after midnight into the dark, thousands of stars and the sound of silence, a huge adventure. The foxy would bail a possum up high in the poplars or macrocarpa hedge with a lot of hysterical barking, a single shot and dull thud as the dead animal hit the ground – another skin to add to the pile that would be sold to the local buyer for one shilling each. For the mighty privilege of being there I had to carry the smelly, blood dripping carcase home, running to keep up with the boys but never complaining..

My Grandmother died in Sept 1982, I was heavily pregnant with my 2^nd daughter.. I still feel her loss keenly, a week later Pip was born, my tiny daughter who has her Great Grandmothers name in hers, Phillippa Claire Gwendoline and who has inherited the same gentle nature and sweet smile.

I see the likeness of my Grandmother in my three daughters faces, I see the gentle smile and bright eyes and feel the loving nature. I know she watches over me, and often feel her presence. I remember the words she spoke and I am forever thankful she was in my life.

Hives

2011-01-22T20:27:00.000+13:00

Bee hives my daughter, Meg, painted in one of her latest paintings - she is not sure why !

endless love . .

2011-01-21T20:02:00.000+13:00

This beautiful card was made for me by my then 13yr old granddaughter, Lia, before she left to stay with her Dad for 6 months last year. I must admit, I didn`t notice the missing `e` for some time ! This, along with other cards made for me by my children and grandchildren are very precious to me, I have a journal in which I put bits and pieces that mean alot to me, including poetry, pressed plants, photos and other bits of my life ..

I was secretly very chuffed with the lovely message Lia wrote, it always brings tears to my eyes, it is amazing what an influence grandparents can have with their grandchildren, all it takes is time spent with them, endless love, which is not hard to give - in fact I am hopeless, I hate when they cry, I want to make it better and love them to pieces - they know it to . .

Garden Pretties ..

2011-01-19T12:53:00.000+13:00

This NZ bush scene is . . . . from the loo window in the very nice new toilets at the Hamilton Gardens - it must seem, to those that follow this blog, that I visit no where else in my lovely city or country - not true, but I do work at the Wintec Hort campus which is sited within the Gardens, hence many pics !!

After my friend Cally and I had lunch at the Garden cafe yesterday, we went for a walk through the Te Parapara Maori garden as Cally had not seen it completed. Her observant eyes saw these clever flax flowers woven by someone through the garden, all still connected to the leaves and plant - really cool idea we thought ! NZ flax Phormium tenax grows everywhere in this country, had many uses for Maori, including clothing,baskets, utensils, medicine,walls in the wharenui, roofing material and dried flower stems burn well. Before collecting the flax leaves or blades, always by women, there was a strict ritual to follow, never were the plants destroyed or damaged in any way while collecting, the old Maori knew their lives depended on this hardy plant. Many people learn how to weave with this plant even today - hence the flax flowers . .

The beautifully lobed bright green above, silver below leaves of the Paper Mulberry Broussonetia papyrifera known as Aute by Maori, was brought to Aotearoa by the first Polynesians. It was used to make cloth from the inner bark, known as Tapa in other Pacific islands, it didn`t grown well here as our winters were to cold. It is a glorious tropical plant with amazing textured leaves, some with lobes , others shaped quite differently. Not sure how it will do in our frosty winters.

In the walled vegetable garden at the H Gardens there are 4 large beds and gardens down each side, planted with many different veges, boarded with different annuals including these sunflowers. I managed to get this bumble bee to sit still for a moment. If you can get to the Hamilton Gardens you really should, they are looking incredible ! The gardeners work so very hard to keep this jewel in our city`s crown an absolute work of art - any time of the year it is a stunning picture . . .I am forever grateful that early city forefathers had the insight to carve this paradise out of what was amongst other things, the dump !

Natural Beauty .. .

2011-01-12T18:50:00.000+13:00

On my early morning walk through the Hamilton Gardens this morning, all the plants looked bright with water ( earlier irrigation!) and morning light. No one else around, not even the gardeners, just the birds and me . . . . really soul restoring for this woman. In the Te Parapara Maori garden, the gourd vines are flowering, with tiny gourds (above) starting to develop. The flower (below) is elegant and defined, the tendrils light green, clinging to the wooden palisades - I do hope the public leaves them alone to mature.

Snow white papery petals with a lime green centre, gourd flowers are simply stunning, I had never taken much notice of them before, against the light green foliage and wood background, these flowers really stand out - nature so beautifully designed.

A small fence surrounds different stones placed in certain positions at one corner of the Maori garden, with gourd vines trailing over and through the kanuka fence.

The American Modernist garden has plants from the western area of the USA, including the stunning Romneya coulteri or Californian Tree Poppy, a tall stunning perennial which once established, can spread quickly. Above is the bud, below the brilliant white crepe like flower with a strong yellow centre. While checking out the flora I spied a baby hedgehog trying desperately to get out of the empty pond, it instantly curled into a ball while I picked it up gingerly, by one prickle, and put it into the bushes. The gardeners often find them drowned in the water features that abound through-out the gardens, hedgehogs are not native to NZ, brought in by early settlers in the 1800`s to eat the snails and slugs that were also imported !! Afew hedgies probably hitched a ride on sailing ships also.

There were quite afew bumblebees on these great looking flowers this morning, it was to early for honeybees to be out, but the dear old bumbles were busy working the flowers, bright yellow pollen bags full and fuzzy pollen dusted bodies. I tried to get some decent pics, but I wasn`t quick enough.

Looking through to the Romulus and Reamus statue with the female wolf feeding the twins and her cave in behind. This area is attach to the Italian garden entered via the garden or through a beech covered tunnel effect, the high pagoda covered in a non-fruiting grape vine, beautiful autumn colour.Click on the pics to see detail, the lawns here have almond, fig and olive trees planted in them.It is always interesting speaking to people visiting the gardens, at how many don`t know the story behind the lost babies brought up by wolves, I must be getting old cause I learn`t it at school !

Love to Last . . .

2011-01-08T18:23:00.000+13:00

I just love old gravestones - don`t you ? I found this beautiful heart-shaped gravestone in the old Hamilton East cemetery recently and even though I can`t read the inscription, I spent ages sitting next to it imagining . . . Was it a devastated husband`s last symbol of love for his young wife, or a child`s grave ?
I often walk through this early Hamilton resting place and think about the people lying here - many deaths by drowning in the Waikato river, falls from horses and diseases now obliterated, not that many from old age. One that always makes me feel very sad has 4 children, aged from 6 to newborn, all lost from some unimaginable illness.

Cemeteries are excellent social barometers, if you take the time to walk through, taking notice of dates, the centuries unfold. There have been no recent burials, so much of Hamilton`s early history rest on the hillside, it is worth a visit to reflect . . .

Reflections not Resolutions . . .

2011-01-01T19:20:00.000+13:00

Today has been a quiet day, a day to reflect over the past year, to be honest, over the past few years really. The weather has been beautiful, not hot, just nice with a breeze that dried the washing and kept the cats warm in its rays.

Being home alone, meant National Radio playing all day, soothing, interesting music and a very funny American play, the NZ songwriter, Anika Moa with her new album. The news every hour spoken in a perfect radio voice, so many memories of listening to the radio as a child, hearing the BBC voices !

Being home alone meant coffee and the garden mag, sitting outside in the morning sun, watching the blackbirds flicking through the mulch and screaming at the cats ( birds that is) with that awful alarm call - I swear the cats smile . .

Being home alone meant snoozing on the sofa after trying to read the Hamilton Garden Festival programme - so many fantastic plays, music and other things to go to in Feb.

Being home alone meant time to reflect . . . think about happenings in my life, mainly, grown children leaving to live further away for a new start, another daughter who needs time and space to sort her life out - I feel I need to draw back, somehow trying not to worry, my baby`s 2nd year at Uni and living away from home - my first time really alone last year since I left home at 17 . My beautiful grandchildren who are my delight. But mainly, I would like to think I could make some inroads into dealing with a major family relationship, one that should play a huge part in my life, but one I have had to distance myself from to survive . .

Being home alone gives me time and energy to think about new ways of dealing with stress and unhappiness and JOY - something I know I deserve !

Bring on 2011

Summer Beach Walk . .

2010-12-29T13:38:00.000+13:00

A beach path through the sand dunes, leading down to the wide open east coast beach - a scene etched in most New Zealander`s minds - the hot sand that has to be run and hoped quickly over, wild native grasses and` bunny tails` to be picked, brought home to sit in a glass to remind us of our holiday, along with the bag of smelly shells still with their inhabitants in - but after washing them out, if you listen carefully with the shell to your ear, you will hear the ocean, swishing in onto the sand . . .

A man and his dog . . . My son Cameron with Bella - both love this beach with a passion. Cameron surfs every day if he can, Bella runs and runs, chasing seagulls and shadows. Cameron, with his family, lives a couple of blocks back from the beach, he reckons by the time he is 40, they will be living on the beach !

Looking back along the beach towards the Maunga (Mt Manganui) with the distant Kaimai ranges in a blue haze - these are the ranges I have to travel over from my lush Waikato valley to the east coast - this long range of hills are like a spine down the side of the North Island, starting in the Coromandel, running right through, separated by narrow valleys and with a different name as they spread.
I must admit, I do have a stronger `pull` to the west coast of NZ, it is wilder, has black sand mostly, with a strong and distinct feel about it - the east coast is lovely but abit too tame for me. I love the wind and crashing waves of the west coast - might be something to do with all the iron in the sand or even my Irish heritage - who knows . . .

Flower Creations . . .

2010-12-27T22:21:00.001+13:00

A new sunflower beginning to emerge, all tightly curled and twisted, slowly unfurling to become the beautiful `sun` shaped flower we all recognize - rather lovely I think . . . .

My favorite seat in the Herb Garden down in Hamilton Gardens surrounded by flowering herbs, the tall yellow flowers being Elecampane. also known as Horseheal, Scabwort and wild sunflower. The bright yellow daisy-like flowers (below) attract bees and other pollinating insects, the roots of this plant being used by herbalists to treat stomach ailments in ancient Greek and Roman times, still used by vets to treat skin diseases on animals.

Globe artichoke, one of my favorite structural plants in either the vege or flower garden, the intense blue/purple flowers with the amazing silver leaves, tall and striking in any garden - an acquired taste for the palate.

A Little Night Time Reading . . .

2010-12-21T18:02:00.000+13:00

My bedside chair is groaning under the weight of Books, National Geographics, Organic Mags, Horticultural bits and pieces, even an Arboriculture Mag which has fascinating articles on all things `trees`, plus my latest bee read, `The Buzz about Bees` by Jurgen Tautz which I can`t wait to have time to start reading, all the reviews I have read about this book have been very positive, informative and enlightening.
Another book that arrived in the mail this month ( I am an absolute push-over for books) is `Natural Beekeeping` by Ross Conrad, an excellent book I have been wanting to have in my `natural beekeeping` library for ages. It is so good to have my thoughts and ideas on natural beekeeping reafirmed by other people who have been practicing this way of keeping bees - there is precious little advice or information here in NZ, I am hoping that will change in the near future - I`m not really holding my breath tho !!

Elderberry Clouds . . .

2010-12-16T22:21:00.000+13:00

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) flowers . . . beautifully scented floating clouds above dark green leaves, followed by small dark berries that make delicious wine and jam. I brought a bottle of Elderberry cordial at the Raglan market last Sunday, mixed with soda water it makes the most delicious, refreshing drink.

Herbalists have for generations been aware of the benefits of using elderberry syrup for cough and congestion remedies, herbal teas for relieving sore throats, also used as a mild laxative or diuretic. Evidence of the cultivation of Elderberry has been found at stone-age village sites in Switzerland and Italy. It was also imbued with myth and magic, spirits were said to live in the tree, people refused to cut it down or burn the wood. The leaves were once used in green elder ointment for bruises, sprains, and wounds.

There is a wealth of folklore attached to this plant, often described as a `complete medical chest` because of its countless therapeutic qualities, one being the use of elderberry water for whitening the skin and removing freckles !

Elderberry is considered a weed here in NZ as are so many other exotic plants introduced over the last 100 yrs. Being a mostly temperate climate and fertile soils, plants get out of control quickly, moving into our native bush and smothering everything.

Raw elderberries should not be eaten as the seeds contain an un-pleasant tasting, poisonous alkaloid, cooked they are used in jams, sauces, jellies and syrups. Fresh elderberry flower clusters make delicious fritters !

The old wood is very hard, it was used for making nails for the soles of shoes, the young wood is brittle and soft, often hollowed out to make pipes and musical instruments.

A tree of many uses, elderberry may be considered a pest, but it is one of my favorite plants.

NZ Bee Plants

2010-12-10T18:28:00.000+13:00

The 2 photos above are of our native Manuka Leptospermum scoparium , a scrubby bush that grows all over the country. Once thought of as a weed by farmers, my father spent many days `scrub cutting`and burning manuka off the steep hills, later sowing grass seed, it is now considered NZ`s best honey producing plant !! Beekeepers have been known to helicopter hives into very isolated valleys and hillsides to capture the nectar from this flower. Manuka honey is now used in medicine all over the world, pioneered by our own Dr Peter Molan from Waikato University, here in Hamilton. The dark, strong flavored honey is probably the most expensive to buy here in NZ, with most of it exported overseas.

Native flax Phormium tenax is another widely grown NZ plant that bees love gathering the pollen and nectar from. Birds love it to, even starlings can be seen with a yellow head after dipping in for the treat. Maori used the strong fibrous leaves of flax to weave into clothing, decorative panels, water proof roofing, utensils, just about everything. It was the only plant that was available for them to use in this cool, temperate land, no big animals for skins, just lots of amazing birds that either didn`t fly or hopped through the trees, having no natural predators until man arrived ! Flax also has many excellent medicinal properties, animals will naturally self-medicate with flax leaves if able to access it.
There are a number of hybrid species, with P.cookianum the mountain flax, smaller then P.tenax planted alot in gardens. Many of our NZ native plants can be found growing all over the world these days, I always smile when I see flax or cabbage trees growing in cold countries, sometimes having to be wrapped up for winter !

Bee Banquet in My Garden

2010-12-09T14:56:00.006+13:00

My summer garden has plenty of bee flowers - allissium that comes up everywhere, including the cracks in the path, roses, queen anns lace, herbs including sage, borage, comphry,hyssop and lavender . There are citrus also, with their divinely smelling blossom scenting the garden and a rather wide feijoa bush absolutely smothered in flowers,( see previous post) that has been pollinated largely by blackbirds and starlings ! it is the first time I have seen birds all over a fruit tree when in flower, they actually peck at the flowers so hope I get fruit !

The hollyhocks this year are amazing ! Dark and light pink saucer shaped blooms starting from the bottom of the stem, taller then I am and having to be tied back from falling all over the path.
All these plants are self seeded, growing down the edge of the driveway making backing out abit hairy if I don`t want to collect the flowers in my side mirror ! I have noticed the bees seem to favor the lighter coloured flowers, the bumblebees also have a picnic in my garden at the moment, I am going to stagger the planting so there is something flowering till autumn.

A Sneak Preview . . .

2010-12-07T17:53:00.004+13:00

Tucked away between the Italian garden and gardens yet to be completed, is the Te Parapara Maori garden, an example of pre-European native bush and kumera ( sweet potato) patch. This would have existed here on the banks of the Waikato river before European settlers and millitary arrived in the 1860`s, and driving most of the Maori iwi ( tribe) further south before claiming the land as `theirs` !
The inner section of the garden has been fenced off to the public while pataka ( store houses), more manuka fencing and planting has been completed. Rocks with cultural significance have been carefully placed, plants that would have been grown eg kumera, taro, gourds have been planted - it is stunning ! Maori brought these plants with them from the warmer Pacific islands, not all surviving. Tree berries and birds were the main food sources, with pork and potatoes welcomed after introduction by whalers and early settlers.
The pic above is of the raised store house taken looking through the tall kanuka Palisades that surrounds the entire garden.

One of the many carved faces around the garden, all protective and very important symbols belonging to Tainui, the main tribe from this area.

The small fenced off open-sided building at the entrance to the enclosed area, after walking through a bush path lined with NZ native trees that would have grown here, and many still do - Kanuka, Manuka, ferns, Kumarahoe, Kahikatea, Makomako ( wineberry), Oleria and Renga renga with native clematis and jasmine climbing the punga fencing. This area was planted 2 yrs ago now reaching high and eventually will become a real piece of bush.
Check out this website for more info: www.hamiltongardens.co.nz

Our Beautiful Xmas Baby ..

2010-12-05T20:21:00.002+13:00

My precious new granddaughter, Mia Ann Maree was born on the 2nd Dec, the second child for my lovely son Cameron and his beautiful wife, Carly. I think this photo sums it all up really - a loving family . . . Jackson (2yrs) loves his `baby sister` and has planted kisses on her head !

New TopBar Hive Blog

2010-12-02T15:48:00.003+13:00

BELOW IS THE LINK TO MY NEW TOPBAR HIVE BLOG - PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CALL IN,

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, OPINIONS, IN FACT, ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DISCUSS ABOUT TB HIVES, I AM HAPPY TO HAVE ON THIS FORUM. TB BEEKEEPING IS VERY UNDER-RATED HERE IN AOTEAROA (NZ), AND I WOULD LIKE TO HELP REMEDY THAT !

> http://kiwitopbarhive.blogspot.com

Pure Sunshine . . .

2010-11-28T20:28:00.006+13:00

Wax comb from my TopBar hive - isn`t it the most beautiful creation ? I kept this out of the hive last summer so I can use it in my talks, plus it gives my house a delicious scent.. In the TB hive the comb is made completely by the bees, no head start with foundation sheets that have the size of the cells just a tiny bit bigger, hopefully breeding a bigger bee = more honey ! The bees know what they are doing, they don`t need mans interference or manipulation, which is one of the reasons I am only keeping my bees in a TopBar hive now. I am encouraging others to do the same ! Check out my new blog, kiwitopbarhive.blogspot.com where I will be putting my TB beekeeping news and info on. I am also in the process of starting a NZ based group for people keen on using this type of hive for their bees.

ALL WE ARE SAYING. . .IS GIVE BEES A CHANCE .

Sepia Sat - all about sheep !

2010-11-21T17:09:00.004+13:00

My Dad, Thomas Brian Meehan dipping sheep on the farm `Patunga` in the late 1950`s. I can clearly remember him doing this smelly job on hot summer days - pushing the sheep under the thick yellow concoction with a hooked pole. My biggest dread was that I might fall in, as it not only smelt bad, but consisted of sulphur and other nasty chemicals - there is Dad, dressed in shorts, socks and boots, no protection at all, not like today . . .

This photo of moi and pet romney lamb ( can`t recall the name) was taken on a kiwi icon event, Calf Club Day, usually in summer at every country school, ( Te Whakarae, now closed down) in 1950`s and still running. I would have been around 8 or 9 so the year would be early 1960`s. he/she was an obedient lamb by the look of things - leading very nicely ! Growing up on a remote sheep and cattle farm through the 50`s and 60`s was an idyllic life for a child, the tiny country school with 2 rooms and husband and wife teachers never had any more then 20 children, so all classes were in the same room. I will dig out a picture of the school, lots of fond memories. . .

Fruity Flowers. . . .

2010-11-18T12:10:00.007+13:00

Two of my favorite quirky fruit flowers, Passionfruit, Passiflora edulis, with beautiful purple tassles and ovaries containing all those seeds ! A native of Brazil, this vine grows really well in NZ, sometimes to well, it can climb and attach with it`s tendrils to just about anything, but the fruit is so worth it - scooped out and piled over icecream, topping on a pavalova - all those kiwi traditions, or just eaten out of the crinkly,purple skin. It is extremely good for you also, has no colestrol, with high amounts of Vitamin A and C, plus potassium. It gets it`s name from Spanish clergymen who thought the flowers resembled religious figures.

I love looking at the intricate flower arrangement, a very inviting landing pad for a bee !

My vine here was only planted last year, has been fairly neglected but has covered the trellis and is searching for more things to cling to ! It is covered in flowers and fruit already - it never ceases to amaze me at how marvelous a miracle it is - from a tiny seed to flower to fruit, all with the help of our honey bees. . . .

A real winter treat in NZ, by the end of the season I am always totaly `feijoa`d out ! Another native plant of South America, Feijoa, Acca sellowiana grows extremely well here. I have 2 small trees which are covered in buds and flowers, the fruit is ready from March onwards and you can`t give them away by June ! Eaten raw, stewed, cakes, muffins, jam, frozen for later - you name it, we do it ! The smell of this fruit is one you never forget, aromatic and strong. My English son-in-law hadn`t seen them before coming here and wasn`t that keen as the fruit is highly scented. This plant makes a great hedge, bees and birds love the flowers (and fruit), another kiwi icon.

Star burst flowers, quite similar at a quick glance to our native Rata and Pohutukawa flowers, they all belong to the same family, Myrtaceae . The thick green leaves with their tomentum covered backs are very much the same as the NZ natives. Great plants to have in a coastal garden as that white c0vering on the leaves protects them from salt spray.

Sepia Saturday in Aotearoa . . .

2010-11-13T20:34:00.005+13:00

Kia ora fellow sepias` and others, welcome on this spring day to my family. Not an old pic but none the less, a black and white study of my 4 children taken to celebrate my 40th birthday in 1993.
Meg, the eldest dragged her siblings to a friends place to get some shots for Mum ... To make matters worse , she insisted they `look` naked, so bare shoulders it was. Ellena, who was 2yrs old at the time, loved every minute of it, being fussed over by her big sisters and brother. Poor Cameron, he was a tortured 16yr old with a reputation to protect, not into `touchy feely` stuff.

This is one of my favorite photos, Ellena was my late bloom and totally loved by the older ones, in fact, she was a tad spoilt, but thats ok, it didn`t ruin her.

My 2 gorgeous older daughters, Meg, 18 at the time and Pip, 11 yrs - both lovely young women, different as chalk and cheese, wonderful, caring Mothers now - this is one very proud Mum of all 4 - I consider them my biggest achievement - I have been a `single` Mum since Ellena was 3 - who says children from one parent homes miss out, not these ones, I made sure of that !

Scarecrows in the Vege Garden this week.

2010-11-10T18:05:00.007+13:00

A group of scary scarecrows are hanging out in the walled vegetable garden down at the Hamilton Gardens this week. All made by school children and pre-school kidlets, with some families involved also, there was a competition organized by `The Friends of Hamilton Gardens` which saw some very inventive scarecrows ! Below is the line-up of blokes !

Mr and Mrs Bloom were my favorites, colorfully made with old clothes, a mask, pots, all sorts.

I liked this scarecrow also, made from old grape vines, raffia basket, seed pods, all natural bits and pieces. The fact that it is lying on its side added to the `look`.

This is the 3rd year the scarecrow competition has been run in the Gardens, it becomes more successful each year, with quite afew more `figures` adorning the walls this year. People are clever you know, everything used had to be recycled and the creativity was astounding ! The walled garden is the ideal place for these shows, the weather has been perfect - it has certainly brought a smile to the faces of everyone I have seen wandering through the vege patch . . .

Sepia Saturday

2010-11-06T09:34:00.006+13:00

Sepia Saturday again - where has the week gone ?? The pics this week are of my maternal Great grand parents, Dorothy ( driving the huge Clydesdale horses) and Arthur Andrews ( see post acouple of weeks ago), my Grand mother, Phylis Gwendoline ( bottom left) and her young brother Marcus, on top of the hay stack on the wagon with his Dad. This photo was taken around 1923 in their orchard at Greenhithe just north of Auckland. It was in the country in those days, now is a suburb of our biggest city Ak.

-The family are getting their winter supply of hay ready to build into stacks - there is a real art in building them to last the winter, I was talking about it with one of my `old darlings` I care for in my 2nd job recently, he is 94 and full of wonderful stories. He told me how the hay stacks were built, if done properly, the stack would stay up and dry inside through all weather , it was all in the angle of the stacking, important not to `over stack` the bundles - very hot and dusty work !
My Gr Grandmother may have been tiny but she could handle those 2 big horses, mind you, most Clydesdale horses I remember were very placid but strong. . .
Happy Sepia Sat from Aotearoa on this sunny day !

Ti Kouka - NZ Icon

2010-11-03T18:19:00.005+13:00

Ti Kouka is so photograph-able, it is most probably the plant I have taken hundreds of pics of. This tall, up to 17m New Zealand icon holds a special piece of all our hearts, instantly recognized and now grown in many gardens overseas.

This special emblem of Aotearoa can be found growing throughout the country. Ti Kouka or Cordyline australis is a tall palm-like tree with dark green strappy leaves that blow in the wind like a wild woman`s hair, then drop to the ground becoming the bain of every NZ child`s lawn mowing days as they ( the leaves) have a habit of stopping the mower if run over !
In flower now, the scent is nice, not over-powering but distinctive - when out walking you smell it before you see the tree ! Bees love it, the single Ti in my garden is covered in honey bees every day right through to mid December.

This plant is not a tree, it belongs to the Lomandraceae family, is often called a Tree Lily with its tall trunk, not a woody trunk but one with phloem and xylem, no cambium, a monocot. The leaves are large and long-lived, with many parallel veins and a broad leaf base that wraps around the stem. Ti will grow in most places, often creating a dense forest in swampy areas or to be seen as a lonely figure growing in a paddock, its companions cut down or dead. Called Cabbage Tree by early settlers as the white `heart` of the plant can be cooked and eaten, tastes similar to cabbage apparently. Maori believe that a large early flowering means a long summer ahead. Old Ti are often hollow with one specimen growing up north large enough to house a gum digger, chimney and all !

Ti Kouka has been the subject of many NZ stories and poetry, one of my favorites being `The Wild Bees` by James K Baxter . . .
Often in summer on a tarred bridge plank standing
Or downstream between willows, a safe Ophelia drifting
In a rented boat - I had seen them come and go,
Those wild bees swift as tigers, their gauze wings a-glitter
In passionless industry, clustering black at the crevice
Of a rotten cabbage tree, where their hive was hidden.

Baxter also wrote : I hope they`ll plant me in
The kind of hole they dig for horses
Under a hilltop cabbage tree.

The wonderful `Dancing Leaves - the story of New Zealand`s cabbage tree, ti kouka` by Philip Simpson, is one of my books that I pick up often, a wonderful social and ecological history of this much loved native plant.

Sepia Saturday

2010-10-31T10:18:00.004+13:00

My Father, Thomas Brian Meehan, aged 33yrs old in 1956 at` Patunga`, the sheep farm he eventually managed for ten years, on his trusty steed. At this stage we were living in the little cottage in the background, moving to the main homestead ( which deserves a post of it`s own) 2 yrs later.
The land is very steep in that part of the North Island of NZ, it once was covered in native forest which was milled, consequently when ever there was heavy rain alot of it slipped down into the valleys and creeks below ! It also took tons of super phosphate fertilizer to grow decent grass, with many farmers walking off their land in the early 1900`s before aerial topdressing was used. Dad had 2 horses he rode and a pack of working sheep dogs that went everywhere with him - both horses and dogs being his work mates and loyal companions. I never saw my Father mistreat an animal, he did swear at them which was the only times I ever hear him cuss, but it was not in his nature to be cruel.
With his tanned fit body, a long piece of supplejack and very sharp knife in a pouch at his side, he was ready for anything - my hero !

Full Moon and Daisys. . ..

2010-10-23T20:13:00.007+13:00

Full moon through kowhai leaves from my front door on Thursday night - I am always energized at full moon and my dreams are very vivid.
Daisy's on my lawn today, I like this simple little flower, snow white with egg yolk yellow centers - my bees were busy visiting all the flowers in my garden - a stunning spring day.

A Wee Swarm and Spring Blooms . .

2010-10-20T15:38:00.006+13:00

I collected this small swarm from a friend`s place last Sunday, in the rain - poor wee bees were wrapped up tightly under the ferny branches of a weeping maple. It being only acouple of handfuls of bees I am wondering if it has a queen, it may have been a secondary swarm. They have busily started making comb from the top of the nuc box, I am giving them to a friend who has a new TopBar hive all waiting and ready. I have noticed over the last few years that swarms really get stuck into collecting pollen and nectar and making wax very quickly, they build up to a decent size hive in a short while - must be that urge to bring in food for the young and build a proper home !

I drove home, rain pouring down and thankful the bees were safe and dry - it is always an interesting trip with a box of bees on the back seat, not going to fast to have them fall off and break out, and not so slow you draw attention to yourself ! At least I didn`t have my bee suit on, that always gets some weird stares - I just wave . .

I don`t know if it is just me or not, but is this spring an especially beautiful one ?? I seem to be so much more aware of the new growth all around me. . Above is the bud of our native clematis, C.paniculata , it is deciduous and when in flower covers a fence or the top of trees with a brilliant white mass of flowers - in it`s native place, our NZ bush, it always heralds spring - I love it.

Above the flowers and new seeds on a Red Maple Acer rubra shine in the morning sun. Maple have small flowers often hard to find, when seen really close up they are intricate and beautiful. It is always the first maple to flower and leaf up around here. Acers are not native to NZ, we have very few deciduous native trees, NZ is a temperate country and doesn`t get cold enough in most places for plants to go into dormancy over winter.

New leaves on a not very tall Rhododendron - the leaves actually seem far to large for the tree. Once the leaves are older they droop down and make a distinctive skirt. The pale purple flowers are not much to write home about, but the leaves make up for that ! I must try and find out what its botanical name is as it could be grown in a city section.

Sepia Saturday

2010-10-17T14:00:00.004+13:00

Sepia Sat is a great chance to re-look at my favorite old photos, this one of my Dad, Thomas Brien Meehan and his little sister, Moira Waymouth (nee Meehan) taken in 1925, has to be one of my most loved pics. . .
Dad was born Sept 1923 and just over a year later in 1924 came his tiny dark haired sister Moira. This photo is such a wonderful pictorial description as Dad was a gentle, loving and kind son, brother, husband and father all through his life - I think he looks very protective of his tiny, tempestuous sister with the dark Irish eyes and curls - she was very like her Father in looks and Dad was the image of his Mother but with his Dad`s gentle personality - Moira was the feisty one and Dad always the peace maker !

I love the rocking horse, the pic being taken outside their mill house in Ongarue - this town been quite a bustling place back then when there still were acres of native bush to be cleared for farmland (sigh), it did turn out that the land wasn`t that great, and to produce decent grass had to have millions of tons of super phosphate dumped on it and then it still needed more every year. Many farmers were forced to walk off their land during the depression years as they could not make a living out of it. This was after they had worked so hard to clear and fence the steep hill sides of that part of NZ - the central plateau.

Both Dad and Moira have passed away now, both from cancer, after leading full and happy lives. Dad died 7 yrs ago, I still miss him like mad, he was a wonderful father and friend, we could talk for ages about anything, I miss him ..

Purple Passion Bee Food . .

2010-10-15T11:09:00.004+13:00

One of the many reasons spring is such a joyous season for me - the deliciously scented Wisteria sinensis, Wisteria, with all her over the top purpleness ! The bees love this flower , the great carpet covering a pergola in the Hamilton Gardens, outside the Wintec Hort campus staff room, has many honey bees foraging even on a cool windy day. It was difficult, but I managed to keep the door open just to allow the scent to drift through . .

Wisteria grows well in our temperate climate, often the vines entwine and a great mangle of knotty wood happens. Out at a wonderful old home and garden called `Woodlands`, in the countryside not far from where I live, there is an ancient old wisteria that is over 100yrs old now and still flowering in spring. The scent alone is a reason to plant this vine, it is so divine. Soft green leaves follow the flowers making a dappled light effect over summer. Deciduous, the Wisteria vine will clamber over most things, I have seen it draped along a fence, up and over an old shed and very prettily arranged hanging down in racemes all the way along a veranda front - birds build nests in it - it is just an all round spring/summer delight ..

Always prune back reasonably hard after flowering, don`t leave it till later as the next years flowers are on the new growth and you don`t want to loose those ! There is a pretty white variety which is in flower along the front of the pavilion at the Hamilton Gardens, it never seems to be as flamboyant as the purple one . .

Sepia Saturday

2010-10-09T11:03:00.003+13:00

My sepia Sat pic this week is of my paternal Grandfather, Michael Patrick Meehan, with his mates on a day out in Cairo, visiting the sphinx and pyramids on camels ! Mick is on the left riding the white camel, looking very pleased with himself ! He was a lovely man, spent his 20th birthday on board the boat taking him, other soldiers and their horses to fight in WW1 in 1915 with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles. It was the first time he had traveled out of NZ and reading his diary, you can get an idea of how exciting it all was for this group of naive, mostly young NZ men. It soon became obvious that it was no picnic !

My Grandfather came back from the war, married his lovely Rosa and settled down in the small King Country mill town of Ongarue, where my Father and his 4 siblings were born and raised. He was a gentle man, wiry build with a mop of black curls and a beautiful singing voice - he used to sing Irish lullabies to his children at night, being of Irish heritage was very important to him, even though he was born in NZ - my ancestors from Galway Bay in southern Ireland, arrived in NZ in 1842 - some of the earliest settlers.

Michael loved his wife and family, never spoke about his war years and never traveled overseas again. After Rosa died in 1974, he really just waited for his time to join her. Most days he would taxi up to the Taumarunui cemetery and sit by her grave until he joined her in 1981. I have very fond memories of Granddad Meehan, his lovely smile and twinkly eyes but mainly his gentleness. .

Awakenings . . .

2010-10-06T16:02:00.006+13:00

The view from my front door yesterday morning, the sun shining into my wee house, flickering off the yellow kowhai tree (click on pic to make bigger) with dappled light.

Down in the Maori garden, Te Parapara, in the Hamilton Gardens, the stunning native clematis is flowering. Clematis paniculata or Puawhananga is covered in these delightful pure white slightly scented flowers - I remember as a child the hillsides covered snow white, once picked, it does not live long . .
`Tuhoe Maori considered that Puawhananga was one of the three firstborn children of the stars Rehua (Rigel) and Puanga (Antares). The duty of these three children is to indicate by means of their blossoms the coming of the warmth of spring` - Elsdon Best 1908
Another NZ native plant flowering with great gusto is Brachyglottis repanda Rangiora, also known as Bushmans friend (handy loo paper ), has large light green papery leaves with white hairy undersides. The creamy white aromatic flowers signalled the fourth month of the Maori calendar (Sept), there is also a beautiful purple leafed variety.

Tui in the yellow flowering kowhai tree, we have quite afew of these big native birds hanging out in the Gardens now, such a joyful sound - pure bell-like to a mixture of clunks, chortles and creaky door sounds - this brilliant bird is a very clever mimic and tends to dominate, chasing other birds away !

Very sweet little dark red to black, strongly scented flowers of the Pittosporum tenuifolium, Kohuhu spread their scent at night, hopefully to catch the pollinating services of native moths. Many of our native plants have small, scented flowers to attract pollinators, honey bees were not native to this land and were not needed until NZ was colonized by westerners. We do have about 28 species of native solitary bees which also helped with pollination, birds were probably the main pollinators and spreaders of seed !

Sepia Saturday . . .

2010-10-02T09:57:00.002+13:00

The little girl in this photo taken around 1910 is my much loved Grandmother on my maternal side. I love this photo, it is so relaxed and loving for the times when everyone posed stiff and unsmiling - you can feel the love between Phylis Gwendoline and her Daddy. . .

My Great Uncle Marcus, the baby in the pic, died last year at 99 yrs of age ! My Great Grandparents were both English, G Grandma, Dorothy Florence (nee Churchhouse), emigrated to NZ in the late 1880`s from Somerset. An Aunt of mine has been back to visit the area and see the house her Grandmother was brought up in, I will post a pic of that another day.
I don`t know much about G Grandad, except that he was a bit of a whiskey drinker and died quite young ! He looks a handsome devil I think . .

My Grandmother was born in 1908 in Auckland and died 1982, just a week before my 2nd daughter was born, hence my Pip has her g grandmothers name in hers ( she is Phillippa Claire Gwendoline) and I do believe my beloved Nana`s spirit lives on in my special daughter . . .

This little family lived in Greenhithe, a country area then just north of Auckland city. They had an orchard and there is still an `Andrews `Rd up there. My memories of G Grandma Andrews are of this tiny, feisty little lady with a huge presence, very strict and who spoke beautiful English, she died in 1975 the year my eldest daughter was born, it would have been lovely to have had a 5 generation photo taken . . .

TOPBAR BEEKEEPING WEB SITE

2010-09-29T19:19:00.003+13:00

My new TopBar web page is up and running my fellow TB enthusiasts, check out http://www.topbarbeekeepingnz.com and please feel free to comment ! It is all new to me so I am still finding my way around wordpress, but we will get there, I`m convinced about that - my new motto is . . . . `spread the topbar love`
I will still be posting on Bees in the Antipodes also, so how exciting is this !!

Sepia Sunday ?

2010-09-26T13:02:00.002+13:00

Sorry folks, I am a day late, but hey, I`m here !! The pic above is moi and my darling Dad on my wedding day in 1973 - oh so young and unworldly-wise I was, not quite 20 and thank heavens I didn`t have a crystal ball to foresee what the years to come were going to bring or I would have started running !! But that is heaps more stories, watch this space . . .

Sustainable Cambridge . .

2010-09-25T18:17:00.008+12:00

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking about natural beekeeping using TopBar hives at the Garden Expo in the beautiful old town hall in the picturesque Waikato town of Cambridge. This pretty little `tree town` is about 20mins drive from Hamilton, is surrounded by expensive horse studs, many dairy farms and lots of horticulture. The town has a very English feel about it, with wonderful old oaks and elms planted throughout, beautiful old houses that have been restored, the centre of town having lots of quaint antique shops and splendid cafes !

Tree Town Apiaries had a stand in the hall, Simon had made a great 2 frame display case, I am hoping he can make me one when he has the time. His 80 hives are spread out around the town, some as far out as Maungatautari mountain where his bees gather the delicious nectar from native trees growing on this bush-clad icon of the Waikato valley.
The Lily Pad garden art studio had a very interesting stand with lots of fresh, organic veges and funky garden art displayed through-out. There is also a very tasty cafe out at the Lily Pad, where all the produce is used in the kitchen. There were lots of other stands, blogger won`t let me put anymore pics up ! The Permaculture group were there with info on compost, worm farms and all things sustainable, another had a hen and chicks in a movable hen-house on wheels (I want one), my friend Burton with all his freshly organically grown veges and other interesting, informative stalls.
Being the `horsey` town Cambridge is, there has to be a statue featuring this popular sport somewhere, and here it is . . . . . a beautiful mare and her foal, so real you just have to stroke them . . .

Proud Mum !

2010-09-18T11:51:00.008+12:00

My beautiful, talented eldest daughter, Meg, at her exhibition held at the wonderful Soul Gallery in the city last night. Her paintings are quite different this time, alot lighter in colour - she always paints how she feels, gone is the dark, sadness that once was seen and felt in her work, in comes the happiness and light - Meg is in a much better place these days !
Soul gallery in Hamilton is a beautiful place to visit - full of fantastic New Zealand art - a wondrous place to spend time just browsing and buying, check out www.soulgallery.co.nz
Meg`s paintings usually have her daughter, Lia, in them somewhere. Lia, my sweet grand-daughter is 13 now and growing up so fast - how about the old wooden clothes line !
This painting represents Meg and her fiancee Cam - birds always feature in her paintings, not sure why - something to do with freedom maybe . . .
This is my favorite, I love the green she has used, the young woman striding out, the old house - it was sold by the end of the evening - not to me ...
This was titled `row my own boat`, very appropriate I believe !

Sring is in the Air . .

2010-09-12T17:12:00.006+12:00

The beginnings of spring down here in Aotearoa brings un-predictable weather - rain and wind that batters the fragile fruit blossom and leave drops of water hanging off the end of buds. The fresh green new fronds of the tree ferns uncurl amongst the Rhododendrons in the Gardens.

Stunning orange banksia flowers are like bright candles on a dull day. Birds and bees love these interesting blooms which provide a welcome food supply over late winter and spring.

Kowhai buds on the tree in my garden, full of tiny waxeyes and a pair of fantails who dart around catching bugs. The bees don`t usually visit this native tree until the flowers finish and they are able to reach the nectar - it makes them abit sleepy !

Fruit tree blossom,, so exquisite in its form and colour - nature has formed this perfect flower that when pollinated, will form a seed to carry on it`s life. .

The first cherry to flower here, Prunus companulata or the Tui tree, now considered a weed tree as the birds spread the seed out onto the bush, with this pretty tree grows robustly in our temperate climate. It is a beautiful spring sight with its cerise pink flowers and carpet of pink on the ground.

Bees in Whaingaroa..

2010-09-05T18:55:00.007+12:00

Yesterday, a friend and I ran a beekeeping taster at Barbara`s scenic west coast property - the wild Whaingaroa (Raglan) coast. Barbara has been keeping bees for 30 years and has 2 hives in a paddock next to their gorgeous `Raglan` home which looks out into the bush and waves.We had 6 people including 2 children arrive, all keen to learn.
The smaller hive has the gentle Italian bees, the other, the slightly more aggressive Carniolins, both busy in the sunshine.
Thanks to another beekeeping friend Cally, we had enough suits for everyone to get up close after a session inside learning some of the basics. It was lovely and sunny with the bees quite calm.

The horse in the paddock next door was very curious, she even put her nose into the open hive ! She didn`t get stung which was amazing as there were alot of bees flying around .
A chat about the bees with lots of questions. I really enjoy these days, it is great to educate and pass on my passion for keeping bees.
I had taken my small model TopBar hive and written info on using a TB , I think acouple of the people might think about using one.

Spring is on the way . . .

2010-08-24T19:28:00.007+12:00

Bees in the Sustainable Garden flying in the sunshine today

I love baby ducks, they are so cute, very sweet with wee feet that paddle furiously to catch up to Mum.

Pollen laden honey bees out amongst the spring blooms today.

Peach blossom in the Chinese garden, the ground below strewn with petals. . .

TopBar Workshop

2010-08-22T11:07:00.005+12:00

Two weeks ago I ran a very successful TopBar beekeeping workshop out at my friends lovely Herb Garden/Nursery and Cafe. As you can see from the above photo, there was an excellent turn-out even with the weather being wet and chilly ! We sat outside under cover for most of the time, retreating inside for a hearty lunch and afternoon tea.
I really love doing this, it is such a buzz (sorry) to share my passion and knowledge with all these interesting and eager soon-to-be beekeepers,especially spreading the word about the TB hive, of which there is little known here in NZ. I tend to get some `flack` about them also, they seem to be regarded as faddy and not successful hives, not enough honey etc. As I explain to people, I keep bees for their pollination skills and trying to build up their population again, not for the amount of honey I can rob them of !! Sure, honey is a wonderful bonus, but it is not the top reason I keep bees. With any luck, I have helped to convince afew more to try this hive as well as educating them about the Langstroth and other hives.

The pic below is looking out onto the herb garden, at this time of year looking abit drab, but in a month or so it will come alive with flowering herbs and now, lots of bees ! There is also a TB hive minus roof, on show for the workshop participants to have a close look at. This hive, along with 2 others at the garden are all made using Phil Chandler`s plans from his excellent website, BioBees. Phil is my hero, I always encourage new beekeepers to buy his book `The Barefoot Beekeeper`, my bible as far as my TB hive keeping goes !

My Morning in the Hamilton Gardens . . .

2010-08-11T17:41:00.008+12:00

Magnolia `Alba`, very beautiful, there are many magnolias flowering in the Gardens at the moment. they make a amazing show of colour.

A beautiful winter morning in the Hamilton Gardens today. Above pic is taken in the American Modernist garden, the statue in the pool has many different names, it can be anything you like !

I was out collecting plant samples for one of the tutors and came across the Woman`s Suffrage (NZ was the first country in the world to allow women to vote) building. I haven`t been here for ages, it is very peaceful, surrounded by native trees and tucked away along the valley walk. The tiny swallow, below, came and kept me company for awhile. She kept darting out over the water catching insects, then back to the same spot.

Winter flowers . .

2010-07-28T18:15:00.006+12:00

poppy buds
Winter here in the Waikato is often wet and dreary, with splashes of sunny blue-sky days after a good frost. Because we live in a huge valley covered in alot of water, ie lakes and rivers, plus peaty swamps ( many have been drained), we do get fog - fog that can last most of the day ! But, there is colour if you look for it. . . Down at the Hamilton Gardens the hellebores are flowering, daphne spreads it`s wonderful scent, Michelia.doltsopas with their beautiful fragrance splashing white throughout the borders, even the daffodils are starting to bloom on the hillside under the old cemetery. The air is crisp, the ground damp underfoot with the first signs of spring starting to show.

winter rose or hellebore - gorgeous woodland plant

Puriri flowers - this native tree flowers nearly all year, attracting tui and other nectar loving birds.

Another Frostastic Day in Aotearoa !

2010-07-14T20:59:00.007+12:00

Driving down into Hamilton Gardens this morning this is the scene that greeted me, I couldn`t resist stopping and taking photos. It was so beautiful, the rising sun shining across the trees, wispy mist above the river, everything sparkling with frost - ahhhh, winter, my favorite season. .

This little sparrow was waiting for crumbs at the Gardens cafe - note her leg hanging down, poor wee thing - she could still fly ok and wasn`t shy .
Working in an environment like the Gardens, just being able to experience the changing seasons, bird life, watching the gardeners create and sustain wonderful gardens, I couldn`t wish for anything better - I never take it for granted. .

Frosty Leaves

2010-07-11T15:52:00.004+12:00

It has been a glorious winter day here in Aotearoa, I think the whole country is bathed in sunshine. The day did start with a -4C frost here in the Waikato, everything covered with beautiful sparkly frost. The fijoa tree`s leaves were all out-lined, the same with the kowhai tree below. I love the way the frost defines the leaf shape.

The geranium leaves were all touched with frost, the grass crunchy underfoot. There was a pair of tiny Piwakawaka ( fantails) flittering around me as I wandered around in the sunshine and even though I felt sad, it still felt good to be alive .. I put Ellena on the bus back to Uni in Wellington later in the morning, we had a fab week and I`m missing the mess already !

Beauty Deep . .

2010-07-06T16:57:00.008+12:00

I love looking deep into a flower and marveling at the beauty it contains. Thousands of tiny pollen grains just waiting for a bee or butterfly or many other insects, to crawl in, first to sample the sweet treat of nectar, then on the way out, brush against the anthers, collecting so many pollen grains to take into the next flower to help create a seed - natures potent storehouse of new life and energy - awesome . . .

Imagine our world without all this beauty - I cannot begin to think how sad and dreary we would all be - no more colour, not even a lonely little dandylion in the lawn . . .

Come on everyone, plant a garden, leave a patch of ground wild and overgrown so the weeds will go to seed, food for the birds during the cold months and new life in spring. Here in NZ, is is winter, time to reflect and rest, read lots of books - recharge the batteries. If only it was as simple, life now seems so hectic, we have to take the time to look deep into the late flowering rose and remember . . .

Slower Days. . .

2010-06-13T14:52:00.004+12:00

The photo above was taken yesterday out of the large window I was sitting by, in a great cafe in the little village of Pirongia, not far from Hamilton. The mountain the village and area is named after, can be seen slightly in the misty background. I was having a coffee and muffin reading over my notes, feeling nervous about the talk I was soon to deliver to the Waikato branch of the NZTCA ( tree croppers) ! The talk went very well plus a wonderful lunch with lots of yummy nut receipes to choose from, eg Chestnut soup, walnuts, hazelnuts and in general, very delicious - plus I nearly forgot, a container with a pump and tap of extremely drinkable apple cider - thanks Rob, that helped settle the nerves !!
I spoke about trees for bees, supplying a year round source of nectar and pollen for honey bees. Which tree sp to plant, especially types that will do well in our Waikato climate. I also touched on CCD and everyone seemed to be keen to hear about my TopBar hive, even convinced afew - I think .. One chap has 1000 hives in the King Country, is selling up and getting a TB or 2 - yah

These 2 cards were made for me by my lovely daughter Pip, one for my birthday and the other for Mothers Day - I cherish them. She loves the old Girls Annual books, using pictures she cuts out ever so neatly and puts together on good card - I just love getting things like this, made with love and thoughtfulness. .
Lia, my grandaughter wrote me a beautiful poem about a mermaid, which will also go into my journal along with all the other precious bits !

It is certainly heart warming to a parent when given something hand-made with love - all mine know what I love doing, know all my little eccentricities . . .

Korimako (Bellbirds) in Hamilton Again . .

2010-05-26T15:45:00.006+12:00

Precious cargo, 12 adult Korimako or native NZ bellbird being carried into Te Parapara Maori garden, Hamilton Gardens, 2 weeks ago, to be released into our city environment after an absence of 100 yrs ! The birds were mist caught on TiriTiri Matangi and other areas north of Auckland where they have flourished in predator free sancturies - I truly hope they will flourish here again.
The 2 people mostly concerned with this project, John Innes (Landcare Research, and a young chap from the University of Waikato carried the box onto the garden, welcomed by a kuia from the local iwi, Ngati Waiwere. It always sends shivers up my spine when I hear the haunting call that can either welcome or send-off a being onto a marae or sacred place by these women.
A prayer from the kuia to send them on their way, these native birds once were everywhere throughout the Waikato, but with loss of habitat and introduced predators, they survive only in 2 or 3 isolated bush areas.
aThere were alot of people including children at the Gardens to watch this historic event, it is heartening to see the number of keen conservationists gathered together and so interested. I am very proud of my city for having the foresight to replant and repopulate.
A beautiful male Korimako with his olive green plumage, the female is not quite as green. Their song is truely amazing, check out any NZ bird site and find a recording, sorry, i`m lazy and haven`t done it for you.

TopBar Beekeeping Workshop.

2010-05-15T18:45:00.007+12:00

My TopBar hive with the roof off and me unsticking the bars , I didn`t get to into it as it was windy and the bees started to get grumpy - I managed to pull acouple of bars up and everyone got a quick glimpse of wax comb.
This is my first TopBar workshop, held today at my home. I am so excited at how well it all went, even with thunderstorms occasionally ! Everyone was very keen to learn about the TB and beekeeping with no one having seen this type of hive before. I was lucky enought to have a spare empty hive to show them the insides and just how it all works.
I had put together a folder of information I felt they needed to know, we talked about Langstroth hives also and they were able to compare the 2 with my Lang full of busy bees to.
In between heavy showers we ventured out to check out the hives

The observation window was a hit with everyone, the bees having built comb on the inside. My next hive is going to have a much longer window so it will be possible to really get a good look inside the hive.

Aotearoa Autumn . . .

2010-04-28T13:08:00.004+12:00

Autumn is my absolute favourite season, I don`t mind a little rain or wind - the days are usually settled with that gorgeous mellow light that bathes everything in a soft yellow/orange glow. Above are the tulips I brought (unseasonal of course) with a bowl of beautiful scented ornamental quince and the gorgeous card my lovely daughter, Pip, made for me - she is very clever, making cards using pictures she cuts out of old girls annuals and the like - this one has a stylised looking `me` with a honey bee on a leash ! There is also a photo of my grandaughter Lia and grandson Elliott taken awhile ago now. I have to be surrounded in my`things` getting loads of enjoyment from just `looking` . .

A busy wee spider had made this perfect web over night - the water droplets caught in the strands glistened this morning on my walk through the Gardens - once the slight fog had lifted everything sparkled, and I heard quail calling.

As I walked across the rose garden this morning this beautiful sight greeted me - the balloon slowly rising through the mist, silently gliding across the city - we are so lucky to live where we are, here in Godszone as NZ is often called - it seems so easy to notice the simple pleasures often overlooked in our busy lives - it just takes time to stop and treasure the jewells we are surrounded by . . .

Easter in New Zealand . .

2010-04-10T08:54:00.007+12:00

My eldest daughter, Meg draw the `Last Supper` on the blackboard at her brother Cameron and his wifes` cafe Alimento in Tauranga - patrons loved it

Matt playing aucostic guitar at Alimento on Easter Sat, Pip, Elliott and I called in for lunch - Elliott enjoyed his `kids` lunch !

Elliott and little friend dancing the moves to his and Amalie`s Dads` band in the street on Easter Sunday - so full of joy - I love watching him dance and sing, his innocence at this age is delightful.

Mats` band, `Bare Bones and Cabaret` is becoming popular around the Bay of Plenty, they have played over here in Hamilton and out at Raglan - lots of good `ol rock and roll, all being their own music - Matt is on the right. Elliott loves jamming with his Dad, he and his little cousin Jackson, were playing the drums ( 2 long sticks on a stool top) and he said their band was called `the poopy beatles` - very appropriate !

My gorgeous 2 nearly 3yr old grandson, Elliott Thomas with his best friend, the Easter Bunny in the street at Mt Maunganui, the beach town on the east coast where he lives with his Mum and Dad.

Every Easter there is a large jazz festival held in Tauranga and the Mt which attracts many bands and solo artists, Matt and his band played at the Mt on Sunday. The population of the place swells considerably and for some reason, it is nearly always beautiful weather. When my children were younger, a large group of us, about 6 families, always went camping at Easter. I have so many great memories of those times and so do the kids, there was lots of laughing, playing silly games, afew drinks ( early rising with a slight hangover is not great ) and plenty of eating done - we tried to go to a different beach each year - special times . .

Last Bee Class of the Term ..

2010-04-01T19:44:00.006+13:00

This week was the last bee keeping class for the term, the 6th lesson I always have at my place and we check out my hives if the weather is ok. Everyone (only afew in the pic above) was intrigued with my TB hive and I`m pretty sure there will be a number of converts !! I know for sure that one couple have the plans already and will have their TB built in time for spring in Sept. Lifting the roof exposed lots of ants cleaning up a dead cockroach and a small group of bees busy propolising with shiny red something. I did smoke a small amount around the 2 entrance holes as there were people around without protective clothing on.

The first 2 bars have some propolis and a small amount of wax on them, the next one in

having a lovely comb of capped nectar - the bars are stuck together but do come apart easily.Note the different undersides on each bar, Peter experimented with some of the bars but the bees don`t mind as long as there is something to attach the wax to.

It was a warm evening so I took out another 3 bars which were joined with each one having its own seperate comb, all with the bee space between them, some with capped nectar, others to be capped. The bees were so calm, there was no frantic flying around, mind you, I didn`t have it open for that long. I find that by picking up more then one bar at a time the comb feels more stable somehow.

I have the divider just over half way along so the area is not as big and I can add more space next year all going well. I took a bar out of the empty end and the warmth could be felt even through the solid wood divider - amazing.

2010-03-26T16:46:00.001+13:00

Article I wrote for local Environment Centre .

TOPBAR BEE HIVE

Would you like to keep honey bees, Apis mellifera, for pollination and honey in your garden or orchard ? In an urban or rural setting ? If so, then I believe this is the perfect hive to keep them in !

The TB hive has been used for centuries in Africa and Asia, not quite in the same shape as the one pictured, but a similar idea of a single box used as the hive body, as close as possible to the bees natural home in a tree or cavity.

TB hives are made from untreated wood, usually macrocarpa or cedar, wood that does not need painting or any chemicals applied to it to last a number of years. It is also thick enough to keep the bees warm over winter and cooler in summer – plus it smells good ! The legs are made from treated wood just so they will last weather-wise and the roof is water-proof, shaped so as the rain will run off – I have had no problems with moisture getting into the hive after heavy rain.

The name TopBar is taken from the bars of wood that lie across the hive, (see pics), to which the bees attach the wax comb they naturally make to fill with nectar, pollen and baby bees ! The bars are all the same width and length and when all are used, form a roof of sorts which the bees propolise to make water tight. I do also have another more waterproof roof over that, see above. The plans for my TB hive were down-loaded free from an excellent English website called `Bio Bees` - I suggest anyone who is thinking about keeping bees read Phil`s words, he is very informative and enlightening.

With a TB hive there is no need for much of the equipment that seems to accumulate with the Langstroth hive commonly used by beekeepers in NZ. You don`t need any extra honey boxes as the hive body is all you use, there is no heavy lifting ( ideal for people in wheelchairs or others with bad backs), because it is a more natural way of keeping bees there seems to be alot less stress on the bees themselves which makes for a far more pleasant task when opening the hive – only taking a bar or two out at a time, allows the hive temp to stay more or less the same, the bees being less anxious and annoyed at the intrusion into their home.

The photo to the left shows a completely natural piece of wax comb built by the bees. They start from underneath the bar and work down to form a beautiful half-moon shape consisting of hundreds of hexagonal cells, everyone exactly the same size, in which they store nectar and pollen or the queen will lay her eggs in.

I firmly believe that this is the way for hobbyists to keep bees, you might not get a huge surplus of honey but the advantages of having happy, healthy bees in your garden to pollinate your fruit and vege is more important than jars of honey ! We need to really start to care for our bees, stop manipulating them and upsetting the delicate balance they have for living their lives in a productive manner – we as humans, will benefit from this far more than we ever realise. Start caring for what is around you and you will be amazed at what you can change !

If you are interested in these hives, please ph or email me on 07-8566468 or marcia.meehan9@gmail.com

Yours in beez ... Marcia

Baby Kotare . .

2010-03-23T17:07:00.008+13:00

Our New Zealand native Kingfisher or Kotare as the Maori called it, the name meaning a`scrounger, someone who lives off the genorosity of ones friends` - called that may be because kingfisher typically hang around ponds, rivers and lakes waiting for the fish to appear.

Don`t mess with me !

She/he is only a baby, we took it to the local `bird man` and he said it was the 2nd one he had in over the last week. The tiny bird with a very sharp beak, sat quietly while I took pics, excuse my finger in the top one, I will try and get rid of that when I print them out ! It still needs acouple more weeks of being in the nest before it fledges - bill the birdman will keep and care for it until he releases it. And that isn`t my hairy arm - just so you no I`m not a yeti !!

This beautiful native bird was found by a student on the ground, must have tried to fly and couldn`t get back. Kotare nest in holes in banks or trees by waterways normally, they feed on fish, and small creatures like mice and insects. They can often be seen sitting very still on power lines, or branches hanging out over water. Their adult plumage is electric blue - all you usually see of it is a flash of colour and thats that - so special to have held and seen this precious gift up close.

bees in their own places . .

2010-03-23T13:19:00.008+13:00

very friendly pair of Pekin ducks..

we found this bees nest in the ground under the alder roots, I thought it was wasps at first, unusual to see bees nest in this sort of place. The alders are planted along the river bank.

Last Sunday I was invited out to dinner to friends who own a beautiful garden and home right on the river bank, just out of the city. Stephen and Janet have owned Moondance for about 5 yrs, they inherited this amazingly formal garden, based on an English theme, and have added their personal touch with an aviary and more planting. The trees are huge , with flowering borders, hedging and areas of NZ native trees planted. There is a large pond that is home to a pair of persil white Pekin ducks and some rather big goldfish, with Swamp Cypress planted on the edge for stunning autumn colour - autumn is breath-taking out there - liquidambers, pin oaks, liriodendrons, copper beech. cercis and other exotic trees adding their colour to the mix.

Above is a pic of another bees nest in a bird box placed on a Liriodendron or Tulip Tree in the garden . I am going to go back this week sometime, climb up a ladder and lift the lid ! i would love to have a quick peep inside and maybe leave a small piece of varroa (organic) treatment inside so may be they will survive the winter. Both wild hives were still quite busy.

TopBar Heaven . .

2010-03-07T15:17:00.009+13:00

I pulled the heavy bar out very gently, it was a warm day and the wax comb was soft - the last thing I wanted to happen was the whole lot collapse into a sticky mess on the floor of the hive !I did rest the bottom of the comb lightly on the bars, luckily a friend arrived and I persuaded her to take some photos.

I was thrilled to pull this bar out and find brood and nectar, the queen is obviously laying well with the pattern being healthy - click on the pic and you can see the larvae ready to be capped - exciting stuff !!

Beautiful wax comb being built from the end bars, note the bright red propolis.

Yesterday was the perfect day to open my TB hive, warm with little wind and busy bees out doing their thing .
I had been abit worried that there was not enough room in the hive after I had made it smaller using the divider board - but on taking the end bar out discovered 2 empty bars still waiting for comb. The hive is absolutely humming, I am thrilled to bits at how it has turned out, better then what I expected, so beautiful to look at, even for afew minutes !

The bees were quiet and co-operative, I did wear my veil but didn`t light the smoker as I think smoke tends to send them into a panic which must add stress, (I like to avoid stress of any kind), but with only taking afew bars out at a time the temp stays pretty much as it should be in the hive and the all important pheromones from the queen are not totally lost into the air - the wonderful natural TBH allows for much kinder treatment of your bees - thats my opinion, for what its worth !!

I noticed on opening the hive the bees had been doing a fair amount of propolising with a bright red resin or gum. I do wonder where they are getting it and from which plant or tree. I know there is a large stand of Australian gum trees not far from here which could be the source. One of the (many)things I want to do, is build up a list of local flowering flora in this area, where it is and when it flowers.

A friend of mine down-loaded off a BBC programme, the story `Who`s killing the Honey Bee ?`, a doco similar to `Silence of the Bees` which I already have, but made by people in the UK. It is very good, if you get a chance to view it, do, as it really makes you think about what is happening to bees and how we can do something about it. We don`t have CCD here yet, but it will come if we don`t take notice now of what is happening overseas, learn from what has happened and care for our bees. But I am afraid that the big chemical companies and the like won`t give a fig, it is very hard to fight huge corporations with their endless budgets. We hobbyists all need to unite as one large voice and YELL for the bees, 0k ? Enough of my ramblings . .

The Good Life !

2010-03-05T16:37:00.009+13:00

I spoke to the group before opening the hive, I asked one of the ladies to take some pics, they were either miles back or dark - it was a bright sunny day to . . Never mind, at least it gives you as idea of what it all looked like ! Interesting look don`t you think ?? - bee suit and jandles on my feet - I get really hot feet in boots ..

I am standing on this rather old pergola which I had to climb a ladder up to get to, plus it wobbled and I nearly did `freak out` as my daughter would say !
I took one frame of capped honey out of one of the boxes to show the people gathered below, we didn`t get to close as no one had any protective clothing on. The bees were very well behaved, especially as they had had varroa strips put in the day before.

Last Saturday I was part of the yearly summer festival held at the beautiful Hamilton Gardens. A number of different talks were given in the sustainable gardens, including Earthtalk@Awhitu, (check out their great website) 2 women who have developed an incredible garden from a desolate piece of land out on the Awhitu peninsular, Wiremu Puke gave a guided tour of Te Parapara, the first and only authentic Maori garden built in NZ since pre-European days and is one of the Gardens highlights, one of NZ`s well known TV gardeners, Xanthe White spoke about her personal gardens, there was a `keeping hens in the city` talk, composting lessons, worms, a guided tour of our large walled vege garden, herbs for children and finally, me - on bees of course !! It was a very successful day, I had a great group of people with lots of questions and many really keen to keep bees. I have had acouple of emails and by the feed back I got, there are so many interested organically minded future beekeepers out there - even in little old NZ or `Godzone` as it has often been referred to.

This part of the 2 week festival is run by the Hamilton Permaculture group and is always very popular - they had a great band playing, with food stalls, Touchwood Books (another good NZ website), the Green Party, Enviro groups - a really interesting selection of things to look at and learn from. I look forward to it every year.

New beginnings and one sad Mum ...

2010-02-24T12:36:00.007+13:00

Mt Ruapehu through the toe toe . .

Last weekend I drove my youngest daughter to Wellington to begin her new life at University. We went as far as Fielding Sat to stay with my cousin Theresa and family, then on to Wellington on Sunday. It is a 7 hour drive from home through really pretty countryside most of the way. I chose to go down through National Park and back on the Desert rd, both trips on either side of the mountains. In the middle of the North Island are 3 large mountains and the biggest lake (Taupo) in NZ - a volcanic region with both Ruapehu and Ngaruahoe both letting off steam now and then. The weather was great both days, I just wish I had felt more like taking photos, instead I cried most of the way home - thank goodness for sunglasses ! Ellena is my baby and it has been just her and I for the last 10yrs - I miss her. . She has worked so hard and has wanted to go to Uni in the capital city for most of her High school years.

In the pic above Ruapehu towers over the small ski resort town of Ohakune - this place is very busy in the winter with many chalets and places to stay - not alot of snow on the mountain at this time of the year.

The Wanganui river winds its way from its beginning on the mountains all the way down to the west coast - through the King Country region I grew up in. I was shocked to see how small it is now compared to when I was a child - there is a dam controlling the water flow further up really reducing the amount of water flowing down - a real shame as there are some amazing rapids along the river and it is a wonderful place to canoe on.

Bee hives belonging to a commercial beekeeper in the King Country - I saw his hives alot along the road through to the mountains - he is one of the few who paints his hives all the same colour - I think they look good.

We Build Everywhere !

2010-02-03T12:32:00.003+13:00

This was taken with a flash last evening, looking through the small window of my TopBar hive at the comb the bees have built on the inside of the perspex, most of it is full of honey. They are doing so amazingly well these bees, I might even manage a small piece of comb to squeeze the honwy out of and keep the wax - the wax is so lovely, smells divine and is clean as clean. I am so pleased I have allowed these bees to live as naturally as possible, they seem to go about their business unperturbed about anything. I am going to dust them with icing sugar in autumn and treat with ApiVarLife, the organic varroa treatment, then leave them for the winter with enough stores - it will be interesting to see how they go compared to my Langstrothe, which I will treat with conventional strips as it is a much larger hive.

Pure Sunshine . .

2010-01-26T09:49:00.006+13:00

Tall, beautiful sunflowers growing in the walled vegetable garden here at the Hamilton Gardens. The sunlight was shining through the leaves and petals, it is such a gorgeous sight.

A burst of sunshine - cheerful faces, always a hit with the children who come into the garden. We do loose the occasional bloom and veges, but it is not to bad really, considering the number of visitors.

The pollen looks like golden droplets, the petals like velvet - such perfection . .

Look at all those yummy seeds - we leave the flower heads on for as long as possible for the birds, but with this garden being part of the actual Gardens and a public place, it cannot look to untidy !! Many people visit every day - we sell the produce once a week for a very low price, it is popular with the students and older folk who make the trip down especially to buy seasonal veges.

Complete circle ..

2010-01-20T10:56:00.003+13:00

Bumblebees originally shipped to New Zealand to help farmers produce better clover crops are soon to be re-exported to their native Britain, where the species has died out.
The short-haired bumblebee, (Bombus subterraneus) was one of four species exported from Britain to New Zealand between 1885 and 1906 to pollinate clover crops.
It was last seen in the UK in 1988, but populations have survived in New Zealand, though it is the rarest bumblebee in this country and found only at a few inland sites in the South Island.
In a recent survey of 1984 bumblebees in Canterbury and Otago, only 38 were from the short-haired species.
As many as 100 of the bees will initially be collected in New Zealand and a captive breeding plan has been created in England, with the aim of eventually releasing them at Dungeness, Kent, where they were last seen.
The bees, known scientifically as Bombus subterraneus, will be flown to the UK in cool boxes so they will hibernate during the journey, the BBC reported.
The re-population scheme's project officer, Nikki Gammans, said the bumblebee was a "keystone species" which was key to pollinating around 80 per cent of important crops in Britain.
"By creating the right habitat for these bumblebees, we are recreating wildflower habitat that has been lost, which will be good for butterflies, water voles and nesting birds."
Conservation group Natural England's acting chairman, Poul Christensen, said: "Bumblebees are suffering unprecedented international declines and drastic action is required to aid their recovery.
"Bumblebees play a key role in maintaining food supplies -- we rely on their ability to pollinate crops and we have to do all we can to provide suitable habitat and to sustain the diversity of bee species.
"This international rescue mission has two aims -- to restore habitat in England, thereby giving existing bees a boost; and to bring the short-haired bumblebee home where it can be protected."
Researchers at Canterbury University and Lincoln University have been developing a DNA test for the species as part of a project to better understand why its is not thriving.
New Zealand has 28 native and 13 introduced species of bee.
NZ Herald 2009
The short-haired bumble bee is a very fussy eater by all accounts, it must have fresh, high protein pollen collected every day ! The queen bumble bees are to be flown to Britain in plastic hair rollers (?) blocked at each end with corks, at 5C, at this temp the queen will go into hibernation.
This bumble bee was last seen in the UK in 1998 and declared extinct in 2000, 3 out of the UK`s 27 species have become extinct over the last 70 yrs and 6 more are on the endangered list. Loss of habitat is the main reason for the loss of this insect, along with the over-use of pesticides etc.
We seem to see alot of bumblebees around these days, it is the more common variety, Bombus terrestris, which is found through-out the country.

My dreams are getting closer ..

2010-01-14T16:19:00.009+13:00

This morning I drove out to an organic dairy and beef farm situated in the beautiful Waitetuna Valley, half way to Raglan on the west coast. Max and Madeline, the owners had read the article about me and the bees in the local newspaper recently, and had emailed to ask if I would be interested in coming out to meet them as they are very interested in having hives on the farm. The valley is very picturesque, with farms that stretch high up into the steep hills on either side, a small river that runs down from the west side of Mt Pirongia the length of the valley and runs out into a finger of Raglan harbour.
M and M milk just over 100 cows, run wiltshire sheep ( these sheep don`t need shearing as they de-fleece naturally), and some cattle on their 600 acres of mainly steep hill sides and some river flats. The farm is certified organic with no sprays or artifical fertilisers used. The paddocks and stock all look very healthy with the stock being able to eat all the good herbs (weeds as some would call them) such as plantain, chikory, dock, and many others. Fresh, raw milk is sold at the dairy that is part of the milking shed, which is in high demand as all milk has to be pasturised in NZ, raw milk is only allowed to be sold at 5 litres per person a day and not advertised - the dairy board seems to think it is bad for people ??

There are a number of wetland areas that have been fenced off and planted back with native plants and trees like Swamp Cypress, Liquidambers and other exotics that provide duck food and autumn colour, plus all those root systems soak up any run-off from the land. Many birds are returning to the farm with a recent sighting of a pair of NZ falcon, really rare now as the introduced Australasian falcon has pushed them out of their natural habitat.
Anyway .... getting back to my dreams, Both M and M are very keen to have a number of hives, we will start with 2 TBH`s as they are really keen on the natural principles as I am - they will be my first customers !!!! ekkkk - I`m terrified, I am really going to do this, it feel so right, I know it will take a while to get things sorted, but the more I think about and talk about these ideas of consulting, putting hives on and caring for them for people, the more I feel in my being that it is the right way for me - I want to go TBH as much as possible so now I have to get cracking and get my friend to make some.

I have driven past this sign a thousand times over the years on my way to Raglan, today it was a sharpe left turn and into this pretty valley. The old settlers would have used part of the road or track, I think it was an old Maori walking track also, over the ranges down to the Waikato plains below.

This is the view from the top of the deviation looking back towards Mt Pirongia with the Waitetuna valley over the lower hills to the right. Mt Pirongia can be seen from most parts of the Waikato, it is a range of extinct volcanoes that once spread over the valley. I lived on the southern side of Pirongia as a teenager, after moving there from the King Country further south. It was isolated, we lived at the end of a metal road, right on the bushline - I would give anything to live there now, at that age all I wanted to do was go to town !!

This pretty little jenny (female donkey) watched me drink my coffee at the Herb Shop Cafe on the way back into Hamilton this afternoon. This great cafe is at Whatawhata, a small settlement on the Waipa river flats just after the city side of the deviation - nearly home. It is always a welcome stop, browse around all the wonderful herbs Linda sells and buy my free range eggs.

Well, that has been my day so far - I am on a high right now, with a million things going around in my head - best I relax with a nice glass of red and chill out !

Natural Comb . .

2010-01-11T12:44:00.006+13:00

My swarm in the TopBar hive is amazing !!! In just 2 weeks they have built at least 4 combs that I can see, acouple of them just about down to the floor of the hive. I haven`t gone all the way into the first comb to check for eggs but it must be happening as there is quite alot of nectar and pollen stashed away. Isn`t it the most beautiful creation of nature ?

Like the other swarm, I haven`t had to wear a veil or use my smoker when I have opened the hive, I only take 2 or 3 bars out at a time and the bees just don`t seem to mind - there is no mad buzzing around. I am going to get another TB hive built for next year and I think it will be the way to go for me - so much easier on both the bees and moi !!

Looking into the hive as much as I can without taking out more bars - you can see 2 longer combs behind the smaller one in the front. The bees just carried on with their business

The chap who built the hive called in yesterday with his family, he will build another hive for me and is willing to build for other interested TB beeks. It was so cool to beable to show them what the bees were doing, his young children didn`t seem at all worried about the few bees that were flying around and eve his wife, who is very afraid of bee, came up for a closer look - go these gentle bees !!

Bush Hives . .

2010-01-09T19:10:00.004+13:00

These hives were quite a way off the road leading into the Awakino gorge on the main road from New Plymouth to Hamilton. It is steep bush land, not great soil but would have been covered in broadleaf podocarp forest when the first Europeans came here in the early 1800`s, with most of it logged, small patches of unreachable land left. There was only small scrubby manuka and some taller trees which I presume were totara and other native and exotic plants.

The hives are surrounded by an electric fence, probably to keep stock out. The hives are all painted soft pastal colours, very typical of NZ commercial hives dotted all over the countryside. I didn`t fancy walking across the paddock to get closer, there were some dodgey looking cattle wandering around.

Days Away in Taranaki..

2010-01-07T12:41:00.006+13:00

Mt Taranaki, the iconic symbol of this region of the North Island, about 3 hours south of my home region, Waikato, can be seen from all most every corner of the region - a tall volcanic cone reaching up to the clouds set amongst very fertile dairy farming land and a stones throw away from the roaring Tasman ocean. She is usually covered in snow most of the year, has wonderful walking tracks, a world famous Rhodendron garden, Pukeiti, (google it) on her slopes and views to die for from the top.

I am staying with friends who live in the city of New Plymouth, the only city in the area, lots of small towns around. NP is sited on the west coast of the North Island, not as big as Hamilton ( my home), but older, with lots of character and one-way streets - which makes for interesting driving !! I really like it here, in fact, I could live here. The climate is cooler then home which really suits me as I hate the heat !
The light shining through this Strelitzia or Bird of Paradise makes the flower glow - I couldn`t resist this photo. With the soil being volcanic, everything grows here. Where I live it is pretty good also, but it does not get as humid here so there is less disease. The further south you go in NZ, the better plants like roses, rhodos, camellias and other cool climate plants grow . Ali`s hostas are magnificant, with hardly a blemish or snail bit on them - I feel so much more energised with the cool days.

Part of the port area in NP with the open ocean out beyond the man-made barrier of stone. It is a deep sea port with tankers coming in all the time. Oil has also been found off the coast and alot of people from here work on the rigs. It doesn`t look it, but the waves were 5 metres high that day, crashing up and over the barrier in the distance ! When the first settlers from Britain came here in around 1830`s there was no harbour and they had to basically surf in to the beach on small boats, the sailing ships having to anchor quite away out. The west coast of both NZ `s main islands is wild and woolly, so much more interesting then the east side - I prefer being here .

These seagulls were drinking from a fresh water stream that runs through the city and out into the ocean. There are many rivers and streams that run down off the mountain, through bush and farm land and out to sea. NP city has a number that they look after really well with planting of native plants, nothing nasty running into them, walkways along the edges and generally encourage people to use them - they all come out into the sea at some point.
The early town planners of NP had the great sense to leave pockets of native bush all through the city, hence there are lots of native birds here. Compared to home it is stunning, with Keraru, native pigeon, Tui, kingfisher, bellbirds and others all abundant and hanging out in backyards - I am very envious ..

Exciting Year Ahead . .

2010-01-02T19:54:00.002+13:00

Happy New Year all my blogger friends - I think 2010 is going to be an interesting year for this strange middle-aged lady.

Today my first blog entry was published on a NZ website called Happyzine, check out the link below. Charlotte, the editor, came across my bee blog and asked me to contribute to the site with fortnightly blog entries - wow, so many wonderful things have come from keeping bees, I really believe it is my mission to go down the road of educating people about the importance of these tiny insects in our lives, more importantly, to care for them, provide food and habitat and to stop destroying their natural world. Roll on more teaching and speaking to groups, my first year without any children at home to nuture, will be full of interesting and challenging adventures !!

http://happyzine.co.nz/2010/01/02/bee-keeping-reclaiming-the-ancient-craft/

Summer Delight . . .

2009-12-31T21:24:00.003+13:00

I love this photo, to me it epitamises what summer is all about in this water loving country of mine, no where are you ever far from the ocean, rivers or lakes.

Elliott Thomas, my delightful grandson with the look of sheer delight on his beautiful face, is falling about in the waves with his Grandad Paul , who was out from the UK with Nana Jane on their first trip to NZ - guess who didn`t want to go home to the cold and snow ??

Elliott has absolutely no fear of the water, or anything for that matter, you cannot take your eyes off him for a second, but when those 2 dear little arms wrap around your neck and `I love you Nana Marcie` is whispered in your ear, you can forgive him anything . . .

The Pohutukawa blossom symbolises Christmas and summer to New Zealanders. Bees love this nectar producing flower, the honey being pale and some say, tastes slightly salty - although I think this might be wishful thinking as the tree also grows inland, miles from the sea. It has strong leathery leaves that have a white furry underside, all the better for putting up with salty wind and sea spray. The tree grows knarly and strong, often called, along with its` close cousin the Rata, NZ`s iron wood trees. Long air roots often hang from branches like a beard and these ancient trees that have grown along our North Island beaches for centuries, will always hold a special place in my heart - I can never resist photographing them or simply just sitting in their shade .

Best ever Christmas Eve present !

2009-12-27T13:35:00.003+13:00

I was rung on Christmas Eve about a small swarm at a property about 10 mins away, on the edge of the city - did I want it ??? I had my TB hive all ready to put bees into, cleaned out the ants and let the sunshine in to air it all out - you bet I wanted them !!
Once again, the swarm had landed right at eye level and were very easy to capture. This time I used a large drawstring bag that air could circulate through but bees couldn`t get out, put the bag`s wide mouth under the bottom of the swarm, pulled the bag up to enclose all the bees and shook the small tree hard - with that, most of the bees fell into the bag, I pulled the drawstring closed, after waiting for the few hanger-ons to re-group, shook them in and away we went.

Bees busily fanning at the entrance of the TB hive, alerting all the others still in the bag, to get in here - quick ! I have used the solid partition board to halve the space in the hive for this swarm, as they increase i will add more space and also beable to close it down over the colder months.

It was simple to pour the bees into the hive, interesting enough, most of the bees seemed happy to stay where they landed with not many flying up and around.

I am very happy to have bees in my TB again, I was so dissapointed about the spraying incident and my neighbour has promised he won`t spray anything again,hopefully, he has learnt a good lesson. I am going to write about TB hives into my teaching material for next year if I teach again (depends on Govt funding) during the school terms. I really hope so, I did enjoy spreading the beekeeping word.

A Summer Christmas in New Zealand ..

2009-12-23T08:40:00.005+13:00

Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year to all my blogger and bee friends - thank you so much for all the great comments and interest in my blog.

As I sit in the sunshine, I will think of you cosy and warm with snow outside and raise a toast to all of you who are making a difference in our shared love of bees.

Summer in NZ means long hot days, pohutukawa trees in bloom all along the coast and inland as well - the early settlers called it the NZ Christmas tree - it is spectacular and always full of humming bees and nectar loving birds.

We have our 6 weeks school holidays from now and most of us take 2/4 weeks off at this time also - I am looking forward to having 3 weeks to relax. I will spend some of that time with my family at the beach - top photo very similar to Papamoa where 2 families live. I also want to catch up with friends in other places and in Feb will be taking Ellena, my youngest daughter down to Wellington where she is beginning her University life for 3 years.

I intend to keep myself very busy next year, it will be the first time in about 35 yrs that I will be on my own - you know the story - home,to flatting, to marriage and children - well, mine will be minus all that which I am totally ok with, this will be the start of an exciting new chapter in my book of life ! I have been asked by the local paper to review books for them and have been approached by the editor of a NZ website called `Happyzine` to write a regular blog entry about bees , sooo, I am going to be busy, plus I intend to update my blog more regularly. I am treating myself to a new laptop when Ellena leaves which will make it alot easier to work from home.

aroha to you all and bless the bees !!

Beekeepers BBQ . .

2009-12-19T20:59:00.006+13:00

The 2 cooks hard at work at the Waikato Domestic Beekeepers Assc Xmas BBQ - the sun shone and wind was gentle - a good turnout ensured an enjoyable evening.

A view of the happy beekeepers enjoying a very nice meal - lots of different salads and meat plus pavalova ( a meringue dessert - very kiwi ), ice cream and strawberries ! The club always supplies the meat and dessert, we all bring our drinks and salads - this year the event was held at the superb country home of Roger and Jenny Collins - lots of room for the kids to run around, a beautiful garden and very relaxing jazz played on the outside speakers.

When I first joined the club 4 years ago there were not many members, mainly retired beekeepers with lots of knowledge. I needed somewhere to learn and gradually the membership has built to 60 paid up members and new people coming along each month. Teaching the 2 night classes a week for 6 months really got more interested and I believe most have joined the club - I an really proud of what I have achieved with growing the membership, through acouple of interviews in the local paper, the teaching and generally bending anyone`s ear who would listen !

Hobbyist clubs are an important part of local beekeeping, they are a place to learn, meet other like-minded people, mentoring and be part of the world-wide adventure that is keeping bees !

My Sad Day . . .

2009-12-09T10:32:00.003+13:00

All I have left of the small swarm that was doing so well in my new TopBar hive . . .

I have lost all the bees from my TB due to a neighbour spraying fly spray all over his flower beds and then roundup everywhere else - the bees took acouple of days to die and it was devastating. This small colony was building up slowly with brood and stores starting to be seen, plus the gorgeous combs being built from the bars. They were gentle, I never had to smoke them as long as I was quiet and calm around them. I now have to hope I can get a swarm before the season comes to an end or buy a nucleous from a beekeeper.

I have spoken to all my neighbours and asked them to let me know in advance if they intend spraying anything.

Monday Night Class.

2009-12-08T13:40:00.006+13:00

Last night was the final beekeeping lesson for my Mon class - a visit to my hive. Above are afew of them that stayed on for a cuppa and piece of delicious honey cake. It was a beautiful warm evening and the bees were well behaved. I have really enjoyed these classes, hopefully I can carry on teaching next year with the Govt wanting to cut funding to night classes I may have to go private - teach from home. Nearly all the adults in my 4 classes this year have gone on to buy a hive and start beekeeping - I am delighted with the outcome - my aim is to get as many people into keeping bees as I can !

The gorgeous honey cake beehive was made by Sue, one of my students. She used an American mold, brought here in NZ. It was so good ! I also received a packet of seeds from one of the other ladies and flowers from another - spoilt or what ?? Just to share the passion I have for these little creatures is enough for me

A wee bit of smoke, I try not to get carried away with the smoker, I don`t believe it does the bees any good - probably sends them into panic mode and I would rather work with them as calmly as possible. I need to open all the boxes for a good look at what is happening plus check for any nasties. It seems to be a strong hive and hopefully hasn`t been affected with spray like my TopBar - more on that disaster in next post ...

One of the new frames broke as I pulled it out, must have been stuck to one under it ! Bees have half filled it, the students were able to see nectar and capped honey, plus afew drones. The honey tastes very sweet - lots of different floral sources around where I live.

I have been asked for an interview for the local paper next week and also featured in good magazine - I will make those bees famous yet !!

For the love of bees
The world’s honeybees are vanishing and NewZealand teeters on the brink of a catastrophic collapse in our bee population. Sarah Heeringa investigates the strange phenomenon of colonycollapse disorder, discovers amazing facts about bees and surprising new ways we can help them

When your baby grows up . . .

2009-12-05T14:10:00.004+13:00

This is what happens .... My beautiful youngest daughter, Ellena Roseann, went to her school`s Leaving dinner and Ball last night. She looked like a princess with her Irish green long dress, ( our ancestory),wearing her namesake`s cut-glass 1920s earings and her sparkling blue eyes she inherited from her beloved Grandfather ( my Dad) - the only one out of 4 children to have the pale blue eyes my Dad and Grandmother had. She looked amazing, I am so proud of the young woman she has grown in to - off to Victoria University in Wellington next year to study for a BA in linguistics and classics - must have her mother`s brains !!

All Information is good ..

2009-12-02T11:21:00.003+13:00

Trees for Bees’ programme - The Federated Farmers Bee Industry Group has established the ‘Trees for Bees' programme in order to ensure that bees have the opportunity to gather pollen and nectar, providing the vitamins and minerals required to maintain optimum hive strength and a viable pollinated bee force.
Farmers will appreciate that posts and wire offer little to bees and the practice of denuding the countryside of trees, gorse and broom has threatened the health of bees.
The Federated Farmers Bee Industry Group is producing brochures, by region, which make suggestions about what you can plant throughout your farm and along the riparian margins in order to support bee health. The brochure will also include what plants and trees by region are banned by regional councils and highlight those which the bee industry do not want to see planted, including Tutin.
Sustainable farming encourages natural pollination. The honey bee is responsible for over 80 percent of all pollination and relies on programmes such as these.
The regional brochures can be downloaded by clicking here. The national programme brochure is available below. Trees for Bees Programme (536kB) Thanks to Federated Farmers website

I have just included this article in the monthly news letter I write for the Waikato Domestic Beekeepers Assc and thought it may be of interest to my blog readers. Even though we have different seasons and alot of the trees are NZ natives, many can be brought in the UK, not sure about the States.

I am just delighted to see more NZ `s getting involved and informed about the importance of bees, especially those in rural areas where there is the need for more planting of bee food.

Rose show with Japanese twist ..

2009-11-15T15:03:00.003+13:00

For the last few days the annual Rose Show has been happening down at the Hamilton Gardens. This year it has had a Japanese touch with a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony to open the event - all the officials were there including the Mayor, rose breeders and Japanese Govt reps.I think the ladies in the picture above look so elegant and beautiful - I had to sneak up and look inconspicuous to get that photo !

There were lanterns hung in the trees, these were in the Gingko and big flying fish banners which made a colourful sight. I would have had photos of the roses but the weather has been very windy and quite cold, not alot of sun, the roses are out but not at their best. My poor girlfriend, Alice, who is charge of the rose garden, has been pulling out her hair and gnashing her teeth over the crappy weather, it is usually much warmer by now

The pretty opera singer must have been freezing, the wind was blowing and we all had jumpers on ! She sang beautifully, a trio of songs from Madam Butterfly, one of my favourite operas.
The Gardens are the perfect place for these sorts of occasions, during the summer festival there are plays, shows, music of all sorts and general good fun.

Swarm to catch !

2009-11-11T12:06:00.007+13:00

On a bright sunny evening last Sunday, my friend and I captured this beautiful swarm hanging in a very convenient place under the grape leaves on a neighbours` vine - it was just about to easy to get, I half expected them to turn ferel and sting me !! They didn`t, and it was a super swarm to catch.

It was such a nice size that the complete swarm nearly did fit into the nuc box I was holding. It was a case of hold the box under the bees and shake the branch, we couldn`t cut the branch they were on as it was a main leader and I don`t think the bloke next door would have been happy with me.

We swept the rest off the branch, managed to get most of them, I popped them in the back of my car, my grandaughter, Lia was with me and she wasn`t the slightest perturbed, in fact she took some of the photos ! We drove out to the beautiful garden I was putting them in with me in my bee suit, Lia in summer clothes and the bees all covered up on the back seat !!

I poured the bees into the hive I had set up in Moondance Garden, check out their website, www.moondance.co.nz, and I`m sure they will be very happy there, the garden is stunning, huge with river views. Stephen and Jeanette are a lovely couple and I intend to see more of their gardens and them of course ! The hive is surrounded by perennials, all flowering, roses, big trees, a pond - you name it, plus a magnificent manor house. Perfect place for weddings.

I went out last night to check the hive, all looks well with plenty of bees flying around, orientating and checking out the food supply ! If all goes to plan, I might put another hive out there next year. The owners are very keen to have the bees in their garden, the hive really looks nice in the setting - adds to the ambience !

Comings and Goings at the TB

2009-11-08T15:01:00.005+13:00

It is a very busy bustling time at my TopBar at the moment - I have yet to decide on a name for this hive - I vary between a Maori name like my other one or something from the classics, I think I might let my grandaughter choose.

The bees don`t seem to have a problem with the 2 round holes as entrance ways, they actually line them up, the guard bees also manage to do their job sucessfully. I have been reading Phil Chandlers book, `The Barefoot Beekeeper` every night, it is such an interesting read. having my own TB makes it all the more fascinating, it is easy to read and makes so much sense I can`t believe no one else has ever come up with the idea !! TB hives are not a new thing, but I don`t know anyone else here who has heard of them let alone wants to try one - I am going to change all that !

Orange blossom - ahhhh

2009-11-04T12:24:00.004+13:00

There is no other scent like it - orange blossom ... Bees and other pollinating insects love these flowers and I can never resist sticking my nose into these delightful, delicate blooms.

One corner of the Italian Garden, another of the Paradise gardens at www.hamiltongardens.co.nz with a selection of potted citrus trees, covered in flowers all spring and summer . Each quarter of the garden has different Mediterranean plants growing, herbs, roses,annuals etc with large citrus in each corner.

Summer planting ..

2009-11-04T12:04:00.004+13:00

Gardeners planting summer annuals in the Char Bar Indian Garden, one of the Paradise gardens built at the Hamilton Gardens www.hamiltongardens.co.nz , My work place is situated in this 140 acre gardens and park and it could not be a more beautiful place to spend your day. The Char Bar is planted twice a year with seasonal annuals which give a fantastic display in the shape of a Persian carpet.
The plants are all grown at the Council nursery which also supplies the plants for all the road side and roundabout plantings, Hamilton is known for its` displays of fantastic public gardens and trees. We have a beautiful city, with a river running through it and also a small lake which has alot of sail boating and rowing on it and people just enjoying the scenery.

The garden is divided in the traditional ancient Persian garden design, always having water and moats that point to the 4 directions, there is a lotus shaped fountain in the middle with a stage affair to relax in - an oasis of calm. The Waikato river runs behind the gardens and can be seen from the raised stage at the back of the garden.

First Quick Look ..

2009-10-31T12:59:00.011+13:00

TopBar hive minus cover, note that the actual bars form a second roof.

festooning happening.

first golden moon of wax being built.

On this stunning spring day down here in the pacific ocean, in these islands I love,( sorry for sounding so mushy, but I feel a strong attachment to my homeland, must be cause I feel so ok within me, and the fact that it is a superb country to live in) I decided to take a quick look into the TopBar hive that 2 weeks ago I had installed a swarm of honey bees. I must admit, I was a tad nervous about what I was going to see - I shouldn`t have been, these industrious little insects have started to build comb, beautiful, golden comb at the far end of the hive, just where Phil C says in his book, that they will. Also festooning on other bars with the bars at the end where the 2 entrance holes are are still bare - I am sure that will change in a month or so.They are making a brood nest for their queen to lay in, I will have a longer and more detailed look in another couple of weeks, hopefully will see signs of baby bees happening !

I was also thrilled with the fact that I didn`t need my smoker, I always have trouble with the thing staying smoking ( I use untreated cedar shavings which smell divine and always go well for my friend), the bees didn`t seem to get upset at all, as I was working down the far end I had a look at the end where the entrances are, and they were just busy coming and going as usual. The rest of the hive stays dark and warm as only 2 or 3 bars are out at a time, not even that many today ! It really does make sense to work like this, I guess there will be times when everything turns to custard, but for my first experience it couldn`t have been better - at last I can really get my teeth into this project, now I just have to convince my 2yr old grandson, Elliott, that bees don`t fly into your ears - where he has got that from I don`t know, he hates the buzzing sound, I think he might have super hearing powers !!

Flying home in the rain ..

2009-10-30T15:44:00.003+13:00

Bees in the sustainable garden at the Hamilton Gardens were getting very wet last week. I just happened to walk into the garden when the rain poured down and droves of bees began returning to their hive which is situated on top of a pergola out of human reach ! It was interesting watching them return in big groups, sort of like aeroplane squadrens returning to base - sort of

My TB hive is going very well by the look of all the activity all week. It has been very windy here so I am hoping it will be nice and calm on the weekend and I will get a chance to open it and see what has been going on. I do get a real kick out of just sitting and looking - it would only be about 3/4 metres from where I am sitting in my dining room at this minute. I have just finished mowing the lawns and there was no worry from either of my hives when mowing quite close to them.

Don`t you worry Cliff, as soon as I get something to report I will be blogging !! I actually hope to start a TB group in NZ, have had a chat to a lady in Auckland who is keen and I know there will be some from my club interested.

At last - my first TopBar hive !

2009-10-21T13:23:00.007+13:00

I am finally the very proud owner of a TopBar hive, built for me by a clever person I met at a talk I gave to the local Organics group here in Hamilton. P used the plans from the BareFoot Beekeeper site that I had down loaded for him - there is even a window on the other side that has a sliding cover so I and the Grandchildren can watch the bees ! It is made from un-treated macrocarpa wood which means it won`t need painting and will slowly fade to a silver colour - it smells good to .. I love it !!

It is situated in a nice sunny,sheltered spot in my front garden where I can watch all the comings and goings from my windows as I drink coffee and read the paper or just watch the bees ! It is actually quite close to the foot path and road but can`t be seen from either of those places. My langstroth hive is at the back of my house and you would never know that was there unless you are the monthly meter reader who comes to read the electrics !

A nice lady rang on Sunday to ask me to come and collect a swarm she had in her garden - I was on the way out in the pouring rain to visit my family, so, rang my kind bee friend and he captured the quite big swarm which I swept into my TB that night - that is what is happening in above photo - notice bars across the hive opening, which all going well the bees will make comb from and attach to under side of bars,then fill with babies, pollen and honey. The poor little things were getting quite edgey by this stage, I got stung afew times but that is understandable, after having spent 2 very wet and cold nights out in the open, dropt into a nuc box, crowded in like sardines then tipped into another box in the dark, I would be too !

The next day dawned warm and sunny with some of the girls venturing out. They don`t seem to mind the lack of a landing pad, mind you, in the wild there is no such thing outside a hole in a tree. I do have another entrance P made at one end which I can unscrew and use if I want and it has a small landing strip, maybe later in the summer if the weather warms up and there is alot of action around the hive.

I am delighted with my first TB hive, it just makes more sense somehow to keep these amazing insects in a way as close to their natural habitat as possible. Totally un-practicle for commercial beekeepers I know, but if you can do it like this - why not ? The honey I collect is a wonderful bonus for me, but I keep bees so I can add my bit to keeping them alive and for the pollination skills they so abundantly use and which we humans depend on ..

The last Fledgeling turns 18 today ...

2009-10-17T13:59:00.004+13:00

My beautiful youngest daughter, Ellena Roseanne, turns 18 today, this was the sight that greeted her just before she left for her weekend job as the dishie at a local cafe this morning ! One of her lovely friends, Rene, delivered a South African dish that Ellena loves, to our front door at 8.45am !! It is a milk pudding, sounds sort of like the junket my mother made us eat as kids, I will get a taste later.

Ellena is going to Victoria University in Wellington next year, about 7 hours drive south from where we live. I am so excited for her and sad for me, it is a real new life challange for us both. She was the 4th child I so desperately wanted after loosing a number of babies between her eldest sister Meg, her brother Cameron and sister Phillippa - there is 9 yrs between Ellena and Pip. I didn`t plan on the big gaps but thats how it turned out. I have never regretted having my late baby, although at 38 I was a tad to old I think - took me years to catch up on sleep and I was always the oldest Mum at kindy and school !! She has been a delight all along, is adored by her sibblings and probably abit spoilt but she has grown into a beautiful young woman and tomorrow we will celebrate as a family at her brothers place by the ocean.

My Happy Place ...

2009-10-03T11:28:00.006+13:00

One of Meg`s paintings, she is a clever artist and sells her work through-out NZ, Raglan is full of arty folks !!

During the last week I took afew days off work, badly needed I might add, spending a night and 2 days out at my `happy place` Raglan-by-the-sea or Whaingaroa as it is rightly named. My eldest daughter, Meg and her daughter Lia live out there, on the side of a hill over-looking the harbour and out to the heads - a fairly dangerous bar. Meg had taken students to Wellington to see the Wearable Arts show, which I might add, is an amazing night, Lia was at her Dad`s and I had the house to me !! oh, and the crazy cat and noisy finch ..

The view from the window I sat by in a very nice cafe/bar and ate my dinner. It was raining but I didn`t mind, it is just so peaceful there, no rush, people smile and say kia ora (hello) - I hope the place never changes and becomes a `Bondi beach (Oz) or even Mt Maunganui which is a resort on the eastern coast of NZ. Raglan is on the west coast and very different geographically and every other way - wild and windy with crashing seas, rocks, some nice beaches and black sand that really does stick to every part of your body !! It only takes me 40 mins to drive out from home, I never tire of the views, it is a good road now, used to be a `goat track` as my dear old Dad would have said - can you get my drift at how much I love this place ??

The view from Meg`s balcony looking out over the little town and up the harbour - the sparkling water is always a deep blue/green and sometimes there are pods of orca to be seen, chasing the stingray they love to munch on.. Don`t you love the old building which is the pub ? The Palms were planted down the main street over 90 yrs ago now, could even be 100yrs - they are protected trees, as much as I don`t like them, they are part of what makes Raglan special and the neat thing is, Pohutukawa are planted at the sea end of the street and they are beautiful, especially with their aireal roots and other small native plants growing in the branch unions.

Mt Karioi, shrouded in mist, a view from Wainui Rd taken after I had visited my bee keeping friend. This dormant volcano is often called the `Sleeping Lady` as the mountain resembles a womans form when seen without the cloud. She dominates the scenery for miles, people climb to the top, the locals are beginning to care for her, getting rid of pests like possums that eat all the new growth of the native trees, with the new generation of children becoming involved with looking after the ocean and land around them - yah !!

A me trying to be `arty`, photo of the coast line, it was very wet and windy, everything blowing like mad, and cold ! I get these crazy ideas sometimes, they usually bomb out, but I quite like this one ..

I caught up with one of my favourite photographers, Gillian Lankshear, who lives at Raglan and takes the most beautiful photos using film, no digital for this lady, and showed her my photos, I am hoping to start something with my pics later in the year - whats left of it !! if you google Gillian`s name with Raglan, NZ beside it, you can see some of her work - she is an inspiration to me ..

I came home late in the afternoon, feeling restored and rested - just what I had in mind .. back to work next week and will be full on as the students are back for the last term of the year. I am teaching 2 night classes on beekeeping again this term if we get the interest and have just been approached by a very cool mag called `Good` for an interview re bees - all wonderful stuff ..

Oh, and I managed to buy the incense I was after, there is a seriously good Herbal shop on the main street - I tell you, Raggers is the place for me !!

An Excellent Hangi ..

2009-09-23T11:54:00.010+12:00

Some of the men uncovering the hangi pit - the soil is quite hot at this stage

Last evening Ellena and I went out for dinner - to a hangi - what is a hangi you are thinking ??

It is a meal cooked under the ground in a pit with stones that are heated to a high temperature by fire, then the fire is put out, the food in wire baskets is put on top of the stones and the whole lot covered in cloth and then the soil from the pit - left to cook in the steam all afternoon.

With the cloth drawn back and steam let out of the cooking pit.

The last layer of cloth is sacking which is very good at keeping the heat in - the smell by this stage is something else.

The veges are wrapped in tin foil

Some of the 100 people there !! Stew and Leah who put this feast on ,own 2 very trendy cafes in Hamilton, Ellena works at `Jacks` on the weekend, hence our invite - this evening was a `thankyou` to staff, clients, family and friends who have all helped to make their business`s so successful - a really nice young couple ..

One of the 6 baskets of meat !! Pork, lamb and chicken were wrapped in cabbage leaves to keep the salty juices in and cooked to perfection - the meat actually fell off the bones

Stew, the chef, busy cutting the meat - there was so much food plus salad followed by brownie and cream - all very yummy. I hadn`t eaten hangi food for many years and had forgotten the `special` taste the food has, a mixture of earth and steam if you can imagine that ? Maori cooked in hangi, there are many old pit sites around the country with shells and bones in them. Other Pacific Islands have their own version called an Umu, which is run the same way. Any fat in the meat tends to run out the bottom onto the rocks. Maori still cook in this way especially if there is a big event on, in Rotorua a tourist centre, the food is placed in baskets and left in the thermal hot pools to cook, tends to have a slight sulpher taste then !

Beekeeping Workshop at Raglan.

2009-09-20T11:52:00.008+12:00

Yesterday I spent a remarkably good day out at a small, quirky seaside town on the West coast, about 40 mins drive from where I live. I had been asked by the local Whaingaroa (Raglan) enviro centre, along with a friend who lives out there and who has a hive, to put on a beekeeping workshop. The picture above is the view from Barbara and Pat`s gorgeous home, nestled in the bush on the side of a hill overlooking the ocean - I was in heaven !!

This is not a flattering photo of Barbara, but does show her lighting her smoker - she, like me, has trouble keeping it going at times !! After we had finished the demonstration at the hive the flaming thing sent up yards of smoke after going out acouple of times when we needed it - murphy`s law !

A healthy looking frame with pollen and nectar starting to be brought in - the hive is on the side of a hill with a great view out to the sea and native bush. There are a number of trees flowering, Pohutukawa, Karo ( Pittosporum crassifolium), Kowhai, (Sophora tetraptera) and alot of Kanuka which will flower later. Barbara always get a good yield of honey which a yummy bush flavour.

Most of the class had brought their bee gear or borrowed some. It wasn`t a great day weather-wise, but we opened the hive for a short time so everyone could get an idea of what it looks like inside a working hive. Barbara took out acouple of frames, one with brood and the beginnings of a queen cell. Barbara keeps black bees which were the original English honey bees and has mixed with Italians and Carniolins over time - they still are alot more aggresive then the others, which is why she keeps them as they have a big problem with wasps killing hives over summer and autumn in bush areas.

Above is the group shot - me being at the front on the left - I usually avoid photos, but I figured being that far back I might fade into the distance ! Everyone is very keen to keep bees which is what I feel so passionate about - getting the word out there and showing people that it isn`t hard and you are not going to get stung to death if you do it properly and wear the correct protective clothing. They were amazed at the fact I don`t wear gloves - I put my hand gently into the hive to demonstrate that bees are generally far too busy going about their business to stop and sting something that isn`t hurting them !

Last but certainly not least, here is a photo of a puffed up Tui - all very territorial at the moment, swooping from tree to tree and vocal ! Tui are a NZ native bird, quite big and have the ability to mimic a huge range of other birds and human sounds. There was a story about them in the old days when our beautiful bush was being felled, Tui would mimic the axe chopping and the voices of the men. If you listen closely you can hear snippets of other bird song plus a creaky door and then a beautiful melodious tune - very clever birds. They are an irridecent black/bluey green with a white fluffy piece under their chin, hence the name `parson bird` by early settlers. They make quite a loud wooshing sound when they fly, are bossy and tend to chase smaller birds away - there were so many out at Barbara and Pat`s place, I am very envious . . .

Well, that was my day, I caught up with my eldest daughter Meg before I left the township, Meg and my grandaugher, Lia, have lived at Raglan for about 10 yrs now, if I didn`t have to commute every day I would live there to - it is still NZ as it was but with all the mod cons and far enough away from the cities to be peaceful. Lots of very interesting people live there, wonderful artists in all mediums, folk whose families settled there over a hundred years ago - a real mixture. I drove home after calling in to see friends and pick up free range eggs, with a contented smile and mark knoffler playing his magic guitar - it is good to be alive !!

Class Trip.

2009-09-14T16:30:00.007+12:00

I have just finished teaching 2 beekeeping night classes for 6 weeks at a local High School with the last lesson a visit to my hive - please excuse the state of my back yard, I have no time for gardening at the moment !!

Some of the students watching me take the top off the hive, as there are alot of bees in the hive at the moment and quite afew people don`t have their protective gear yet, I didn`t take the top board completely off. As it was, the bees were very well behaved and no one got stung !! I had another 7 or so people standing on the other side of me, all very interested and keen to keep bees.

It was the first time I had opened the hive for acouple of months and they have made quite alot of comb, especially where there were no frames. I don`t mind as it is easy enough to strain the honey out, I will most probably leave it there for the bees to use and put a honey super on top fairly soon. If this hive does not swarm I may have a go at splitting it, never done that before it can`t be that hard ??

I think the comb is beautiful, such a work of art and when they make it naturally it just seems to glow.

I don`t wear gloves as I find them to bulky and I end up squashing bees, this way, I go very carefully and usually don`t get many stings, none yesterday which was good for the students to see.

I have been asked to teach the course again next term which is in about 3 weeks, heres` hoping we get the numbers again, it was so popular I ended up doing 2 classes. The verbal feed back has been very encouraging, I seem to have taught them what they needed to know and instilled confidence enough to at least think seriously about keeping bees with many actually doing it - just what I intended - more beekeepers in our world !

Beautiful days . . .

2009-09-09T14:41:00.005+12:00

Once again we have stunning spring days. The trees are bursting into leaf or flower with the Horse Chestnut above sending out star shaped leaves from a sticky bud. I spend alot of my day looking up !

The native Kumarahou is flowering everywhere, all along the sides of the road in rural areas. The bees love the yellow pollen and sticky nectar from the early spring flowering small tree, it grows well here in the Waikato.

The amazing Ginkgo - what a prehistoric looking plant this beautiful tree is. I love the way the flowers and leaves grow from the wood, the waxy leaves spreading out into tiny fans, the bright spring green colour heralding the new season.

I am enjoying playing with my new camera, a Canon PowerShot SX1015 - I still have lots to learn about it, so as you can imagine, the camera goes everywhere with me - my family ask when am I going to take photos of humans ?? I have 3 grandchildren that get photographed alot, I need to get some printed, it is easy to forget with a digital camera, I miss not actually having a hard copy to look at.