Having decided that it was about time to get some ‘formal’ green woodwork training from experienced people that earn their living from the woods, I decided to book myself onto a couple of courses throughout the course of the next couple of years – and will now probably continue doing so for a long time to come!

The first of these ended up being one of the most enjoyable long weekends I’ve spent for many years, based at an old flint mill on the Beamish Estate in County Durham where Maurice Pyle has his workshop.  I’ve included a little bit about Maurice below, taken directly from his website to ensure I represent him accurately!

Maurice started his career within youth training, personal development and outdoor education but it was whilst working within environmental education for Gateshead’s Education Department that Maurice Pyle first discovered the joys of working with green wood using a few simple hand tools.  The original woodcraft courses he organised for the local community in Gateshead were very well received and seemed an excellent vehicle to get people of all backgrounds involved with woodlands and woodcraft.

For the last 15 years he has enjoyed running a business which combines many aspects of conventional woodland work and traditional woodcraft.

The business has grown over the last few years in all departments but our biggest development recently has been the setting up of The Woodsmith’s Store.  A complete service offering the best tools and books for the green woodworker and traditional woodworker.  The buy on-line website, www.woodsmithstore.co.uk, was launched in November 2006.

In 2007 Maurice and Claire purchased an idyllic wooden house in a remote valley in the mountains of eastern Norway, a base from which inspiring woodcraft experience holidays could be run.

He is a trustee of the Bill Hogarth Memorial Apprenticeship Trust, regional contact for the Association of Pole Lathe Turners and member of The Carpenters’ fellowship.

Having spent a long time trawling the Google-net and looking at the vast array of training that is available for aspiring bodgers, I decided that Maurice was definitely someone that had the credentials to be able to cure any pre-existing bad habits of mine and guide me towards developing some skills that other green woodworkers would recognise as being correct and appropriate.  But what to start with?

Obviously having the right tools is an important first step, but that’s a relatively easy place to start – especially if you decide to use Maurice’s store as your first point of contact for new tools or for advice on the right tools for a particular job.  However, new tools can be relatively expensive and aren’t a must have – it’s possible to buy decent quality second hand tools at craft fairs and car boot sales if you know what you’re looking for.  Tools is one thing, but having sharp tools is even better – and if you can keep them sharp it’s the icing on an otherwise quite boring cake!

So…at least one day had to be a course on tool sharpening, and this is how Maurice advertises his invaluable one-day course:

Tool Sharpening (1 day)

Having sharp tools won’t improve you green woodworking skills but will make the work easier and safer, produce a better finish and make the process of using hand tools considerably more satisfying.  This one-day course will provide information about sharpening most of the tools used in green woodworking, such as axes, billhooks, drawknives and turning chisels and gouges.  Powered and manual techniques will be shown.  This may be the most important course you ever attend. 

Wow – what a great day!  If I can remember correctly (which I’m never quite sure I can!) there were three of us on this course, which meant that Maurice could spend a lot of time with each of us – ‘honing’ our sharpening techniques (excuse the pun).  We spent a lot of time learning, and practicing, how to sharpen all of the key green wood tools using both manual and powered sharpening and honing methods.  I was even given the opportunity to restore an old spokeshave blade that had become totally rounded over time, and finished up with a razor sharp blade that was probably even better than it was when it left the manufacturer – it was really very satisfying.

I finished the day with the knowledge and understanding, and the foundation skills, to be able to keep all of my own tools in a fit for use condition – something I’d never been quite happy with previously.  Unfortunately, I also left with quite a long wish list of some of the most useful bits of sharpening and honing wizardry I’d used on the course, and to good effect.  It will take a long time for me to be able to save for the Tormek grinding and sharpening system, and some of the sharpening stones are really quite dear – but if they help to keep your edges sharp I suppose they are well worth the money.

What I found reassuring though was that provided your tools are well looked after and receive regular attention to sharpening and honing, you can get by very well with some fine abrasive papers and strips of leather bonded to hardwood blocks and round dowels – alongside a decent honing paste and some protective oil.

Upon returning home I set to making myself a set of these blocks and rods straight away (luckily, and quite bizarrely, I had an entire hide of tanned leather just waiting for a use!).  I’ve found that spray mount doesn’t work that well in sticking wet and dry to wood, and have yet to try a can of EvoStick spray contact adhesive I’ve bought instead – hopefully that will work better.  I do however highly recommend Camellia oil to protect your tools – I think I got mine from Axminster.

Well worth a day, I may even book myself on it again for a refresher in the future – and take all my tools to make sure I’m doing it the right way!

So what next…?

Having learnt how to make tools sharp (rather than how to make sharp tools – I fancy a course on that in the future, maybe with Ben Orford!) – I decided to have a couple of days with Maurice learning how to use them properly.  The sensible place to start seemed like booking a place on his introduction to green woodworking course, over two days.  The best bit I found about this was that I could book the two courses concurrently (that means so that they run one after the other – hence the long weekend!).  This is how Maurice advertises this course:

Green Woodworking: An Introduction (2 days)

The essential course for aspiring green woodworkers.  The bodging skills of cleaving, trimming, shaving and turning will be taught using a few simple hand tools such as axes, drawknives, gouges and chisels.  You will learn how to use a shavehorse and a pole lathe.  On this course people make their own rustic English style shavehorse to take away.  This could be your opportunity to get fired up and inspired to learn a new and highly satisfying creative skill.

Over the course of the weekend Maurice took us through all of the key green woodworking processes that we were likely to need to produce traditional ‘coppice crafts’ – including splitting, cleaving, shaping on the shave horse and turning on the pole lathe, alongside a lot of axe and drawknife work!

We started our project with some felled round wood, mainly ash although I chose to make my shave horse body from an oak log to give it a bit of extra weight and sturdiness – although this wasn’t really necessary.  We learnt how to use various types of axe safely and efficiently, from a splitting hatchet to create the legs from ash logs, and carving axes to rough out the billets for the pole lathe for the turned components.  After the axe work it was on to the shave horse to ‘tidy’ the legs with an assortment of draw knives, and to get the pole lathe billets as near to round as possible to reduce any ‘chatter’ when fixed between the centres of the lathe.

There was plenty of axe and draw knife work to be done on the horse body, although the oak log I had so wisely chosen was a little oversize to be able to take the swinging arm, and rather than spend the whole day wasting the material away Maurice made quick work of reducing it to 6 ½” with the chainsaw – leaving a easy job for the spokeshave to finish off.

To save time and to ensure the job was finished to a good standard at the end of the two days all the holes were drilled with a DeWalt rather than a brace and bit – Maurice had a high torque low rev model that was powered by a petrol generator that made the drilling far quicker but none the less accurate.  It was still really important to ensure all the angles were right to splay the legs in the correct directions to keep the shave horse stable when seated on it!

Anyway, on to the lathe work.  After some superb spiraling cuts through the work piece with the skew chisel I ended up with some turned components that I could be really pleased with – and they all fitted together like they had been made by a true pro!  Must make mental note though – more practice needed with both skew and flat chisel (if I ever want to make anything that looks well designed and properly finished), if all I’m after is an average job then I’m a whizz with a roughing out and spindle gouge!

I had a little time left at the end of day 2 so rather than waste it I decided to try my hand at shaping the seat of the shave horse using a travisher.  I think that this must have been one of the most satisfying parts of making my shave horse, starting with a flat ‘plank’ and carving contours in all directions to create a comfy platform for my behind!  Loved it, so much so that I’m now the proud owner of a James Mursell travisher – and will probably book a place on one of his Windsor chair workshops when I have the time available.

I could write for ages about these three days, as they were so fantastic.  Needless to say though, I took so much away from these courses and am sure they will make me a far more accomplished bodger than I was when I started.  I will definitely be booking with Maurice may more times in the future, and may even travel to Norway for one of his summer workshops in years to come.

If you need a recommendation, then they don’t need to come any better than what Maurice is offering – great teaching, great advice, great location and great company, what more could you ask for!

Maurice Pyle – Woodsmith

http://www.mpwoodsmith.co.uk/

The Woodsmith’s Store

http://www.woodsmithstore.co.uk/

Original Article

Following the loss of Thunder, our beautiful black Ouessant, on the 29^th March of this year we began to realise that he needed replacing, and quickly!

Cloud, our remaining white ewe, really missed his company and spent all day, every day, pining for him and running around the garden in circles trying to see where he was.  It was quite traumatic to watch as she really wasn’t a very happy sheep at all – it’s easy to see why sheep are such flock animals.

Now those of you that know a thing or two about Ouessants will know that there really aren’t very many of them in the UK (not sure where I’ve seen it but I want to say about 350 registered sheep in total – from maybe about 20 separate breeders).  The end of March is a bit too early for these little sheep to be lambing, and there definitely wouldn’t be any breeders with weaned lambs for sale.  So we were therefore resigned to the fact that we would be looking for a ewe lamb from last year – and would probably have to take one that the owner wasn’t sure was good enough for them to be breeding from.  Never mind, at the end of the day what we needed quickly was a companion sheep for Cloud.

We spent ages on the phone and exchanging emails with reputable breeders that we had planned to buy stock from later on in the year and were quite dismayed to find that no-one had anything that they were prepared to get rid of.  They were all happy for us to wait and see what was available after lambing and weaning, but I’m not sure that Cloud could have waited that long – she would probably have died from a broken heart!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we eventually found a breeder that was prepared to let us have one of her sheep that was going to end up in the freezer later on in the year (and she was happy for us to pay her what the sheep was worth to her as a carcass in the freezer as well!).  We took a long drive down to Taunton, in Somerset, on 6^th April – via South Wales for a quick family visit overnight, and came home delighted with a companion for Cloud in the back of the trusty Landrover.

We can’t praise Val Grainger highly enough for helping us out at such short notice, she’s a truly remarkable lady and has a marvelous, and quite sizeable, flock of Ouessants.  She gave us loads of really helpful advice, showed us around her fields and let us meet her sheep, and also makes a cracking cup of tea.  We’re hoping to be able to borrow a ram from her in the Autumn to serve our ewes that are ready for breeding from.

Anyway, you will have assumed from the name that Snowy is a ewe, but will no doubt be confused from the pictures to see her sporting a fine pair of horns (Ouessant ewes are polled, meaning have no horns).  Snowy was actually destined for the freezer because she is a hermaphrodite, which we learned is actually not as uncommon as one might think amongst sheep, especially with this breed given their small size.  It occasionally occurs with the second born of a set of twins, probably because they’re really not big enough to carry two throughout a pregnancy.  How many other people do you know with such a sheep – we may almost be unique!  Needless to say that Snowy is a true companion sheep, we won’t be breeding from her (or using her to breed), and it seems a shame having saved her from the freezer once to send her back on that path again.

We’ll keep you updated with progress, and definitely share more about our sheep as the flocks grows!

Original Article

Very sadly, Thunder, our black castrate ram lamb is with us no more.  He was put to sleep on 29th March 2012 at exactly 11 months of age, following a short but troubling period of illness.

Huw (his owner) was very sad, and we had a permanent reminder of Thunder made that now hangs in fond memory on his bedroom wall.

I have included an article below taken directly from the web site of the National Pygmy Goat Association to explain how and why Thunder became poorly.

Urinary Calculi

by Jennifer Maas, DVM

This year I’ve seen several cases of urinary obstruction in male sheep and goats.  A four-month-old Nubian wether underwent successful surgery, one ram lamb was put to sleep because his urethra had ruptured, one mature breeding ram was put to sleep because of suspected urethral rupture and one yearling ram’s urethral process was snipped to free the obstruction.  A four-month-old Pygmy wether who was unblocked by snipping the urethral process went on to block higher up in the urethra, thus necessitating a urethrostomy.

Almost any time a client calls concerning a male sheep or goat with the complaint, ‘My animal is depressed, won’t eat, looks bloated, acts constipated, and is straining,’ my thoughts jump to a blockage of the urethra, the tube leading from the bladder to the penis which passes sperm and urine, with urethral ‘calculi’, small stones from the bladder which lodge in the long, thin male urethra.

Usually, when I arrive, the animal is down, had abnormally dry hair around the penis, and is lying in an unusually dry stall.  Because of the build-up of urea and other toxins that are normally passed in the urine, the animal is quite depressed.  A combination of decreased water intake and increased blood toxin level causes the animal to also be dehydrated.

If the animal is not castrated, I can extrude the penis and check the small, worm-like urethral process at the end of the penis for build-up of the small stones.  This is a common site of obstruction since it is quite small.  In the castrated animal, especially in one castrated at a young age, the attachments of the penis to the prepuce have not yet broken down and sometimes it is impossible to examine or extrude the end of the penis.

If there are crystals in the urethral process, easily seen and felt on the exam, I can snip off the end of the process with a sharp pair of scissors, thus often ridding the animal of the blockage.  This must often be done under light anaesthesia, especially when dealing with goats.  Obtaining a good stream of urine is surely a relief once the urethral process is snipped, but the animal may very possibly become re-blocked with stones higher up, even if this is achieved.  If the urethral process cannot be visualised and / or the blockage doesn’t occur at this point, then either surgery or euthanasia should be considered.  If surgery is the decision, it should be performed promptly, before the animal becomes more toxic.

I must convince myself the problem is a urethral obstruction.  This can sometimes be done by feeling a large abnormally hard bladder.  If the bladder can’t be felt and obstruction is suspected, a ruptured bladder should be ruled out by tapping the abdomen with a hypodermic needle and checking for urine spillage into the abdominal cavity.  A high blood urea and blood creatinine can also tell me, especially in the case of a large animal whose bladder is difficult to feel, whether I am dealing with a probable urinary obstruction.

The other common site of blockage is a point at which the urethra makes an S-shaped curve, the sigmoid flexure.  The sigmoid flexure frustrates all attempts at passing a catheter from the penis to the bladder because of its curvature.  If the blockage occurs at this point, the only solution is to do a urethrostomy.  This involves making a longitudinal incision over the urethra at a site below the anus, suturing the opened incision to the skin and allowing it to heal open, thus causing a permanent hole in the urethra where urine crystals can pass freely.  Surgery is done under general anaesthesia and is fraught with complications after the surgery, mainly consisting of the urethra scarring shut or stricturing at the surgical site.  The success rate is probably about 50%.  This surgery is useful only to save the animal’s life, but not to salvage it as a breeding individual.

Causes and Prevention:

Urolithiasis or calculosis, the metabolic disease of male sheep and goats, is the blockage of the urethra by struvite crystals, preventing the normal passage of urine from the bladder.  The disease, caused by what appears to be a complex of dietary and environmental factors, begins with the formation of ammonium phosphate ions which form a nidus to which other ions and eventually cells and mucus from the bladder adhere, forming a calculus of up to 3 mm in diameter.  These calculi pass without problem through the large, short female urethra, but rub and irritate the lining of the long, thin male urethra, causing irritation, swelling and eventual obstruction and occlusion of urine outflow.

Males from a few weeks of age to mature rams and bucks are all susceptible to this non-contiguous disease, but the highest risk population is the wether 3-6 months old on a high concentrate diet who has been castrated at an early age.

Factors that appear to predispose to the formation of urinary calculi:

• A high percentage of concentrates (grain) in the diet.
• A high phosphorus to calcium ratio.
• Castration at an early age (1-4 weeks), slowing growth and development, resulting in a juvenile penis and urethra (narrower lumen and persistent adhesions of the penis to the prepuce)
• Water deprivation.
• Inclement weather:
  • Cold water (decreased palatability and intake).
  • Reflex contraction of the penis and urethra in cold weather.

Prevention of this deadly metabolic disease involves:

• Castration after the animal is a month old.
• Feeding a 2:1 calcium/phosphorus ratio rather than offering minerals free choice.
• Adding sodium chloride to the diet so that it constitutes 4% of the dry matter in the diet. This will aid by discouraging the formation of crystals through its ionic action, and by increasing the animal’s water intake.
• Offering the animal plenty of warm, fresh water.

Finally, it is extremely important to avoid over-feeding your male goats.  Castrated or not, a male goat does not need anywhere near the concentrate required by a milk producing doe.  Although a young animal needs concentrate, care should be taken not to over-feed the young male.  As long as good quality hay is fed, concentrate should figure only marginally in the diet of the mature animal.

Excerpts from:
Kinne, Maxine, ed. Pygmy Goats: Best of Memo 2 (1982-1987)

National Pygmy Goat Association: pp. 147-148

This document is for informational purposes only and is in no way intended to be a substitute for medical consultation with a qualified veterinary professional. The information provided through this document is not meant to be used in the diagnosis or treatment of a health problem or disease, nor should it be construed as such.

Original Article

Regular visitors will be noticing that the content on the majority of our static pages is coming along nicely - most are finished now (or at least as finished as they’re going to be until something major changes, or we take on something else that’s worth sharing with you!).  We hope you approve of the content we’ve included - we’ve tried to give you a real flavour of what we do alongside some basic information about the breeds that we keep and any particular hints and tips that we feel would be useful to those considering keeping some of our breeds for themselves.

Products will be added to our ‘For Sale’ page as we photograph those that we feel people will be interested in, and those that we are happy to be able to ship to customers or have them collect from our premises!  Whenever we have stock for sale we’ll post information about it, alongside some pictures of the actual stock available.  We will be able to include stock for sale as pets, for breeding or purely for bringing on ready for the table.

Now that the static content is nearly complete we’ll spend the next couple of weeks catching up on all of the blog posts that we’ve been intending to write!  Don’t worry - we haven’t forgotten any news that we want to share, we’ve been keeping a list!  Hopefully we’ll now be able to put all of our news into words and share it with you - with any nice pictures that we’ve taken to go alongside.

Please make sure you post comments under anything you find particularly interesting, as it’s the only way we’ll ever know if our news really is worth sharing!

Thanks for all your patience.

Adrian & Jo

Original Article

We run a range of courses throughout the year, generally during the main beekeeping season between the months of March and October.  If you are looking for something a bit more specific, such as preparing for winter or methods of Integrated Pest Management, then please don’t let that stop you from getting in touch – we can always prepare a bespoke programme for interested individuals!

If you can’t find any dates to suit you, or there are none currently advertised, please let us know that you are interested.  We will always put on extra dates when we have enough sign up to make a course viable.

We are happy to provide 1-to-1 instruction for individuals – please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Our current, standard, range of courses can be found below:

Beekeeping Course 1:

Half-day taster – for those that have an interest in bees and are keen to find out more about this fascinating social insect.  Come and get close up to the bees and take the opportunity to have all those questions you didn’t know who to ask answered by an experienced beekeeper.

(click here for full details)

Beekeeping Course 2:

Full-day experience – for those who are interested in taking the first step towards looking after their own bees.  The day will cover all the practical considerations that need to be taken into account when starting beekeeping including siting an apiary, essential and desirable equipment, the beekeepers year and the processing of hive produce – plus many other aspects of this rewarding hobby.

(click here for full details)

Beekeeping Course 3:

Weekend introduction to beekeeping – this course goes into far greater detail and depth than the day experience, and is ideal for those that have already decided to take on their first hive of bees, or have recently acquired their first colony.

All of the above courses include practical experience of handling bees!

(click here for full details)

What to bring on a course:

We will provide all protective beekeeping equipment, including gloves and tops, but you should wear a long sleeve top, trousers (not too flimsy!) and wellies or stout shoes with socks you can tuck your trousers into.  If you are attending one of our weekend courses then it’s probably better to wear clothes that you don’t mind getting a bit mucky – and it’s probably always a good idea to bring a waterproof jacket or coat!  Although we will provide course notes I always like to take a notebook and pencil whenever I go on a course – I always feel like I’m being rude if I type it directly into a notes app on my phone or pad!

The location for all courses:

A J Apiaries, Pinewood School, Hoe Lane, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 9PB

(please see the map on our contact page for directions)

Please note that whilst we do our best to ensure that you do not get stung if you are aware that you have a severe allergic reaction to bee stings these courses are not for you as they all involve working with live bees.

Terms & Conditions of Booking Courses

Cancellations:

Bookings for our courses are non-refundable and non-transferable.  However, if you let us know that you are unable to attend, we will do our utmost best to resell your place(s).  In the event that we are successful, we will refund you the cost of your place, less an administration fee of 20% per place.  We require a minimum of 7 days notice for all cancellations.

In the event of there being fewer than four people on any one course, we reserve the right to cancel the course in which case a full refund of the course fees will be provided, but we cannot be held responsible for any other expenses incurred in advance of the course.  We will do our utmost best to arrange an alternative date for you.

Our beekeeping courses can only take place with fair weather conditions – the bees do not enjoy being manipulated during inclement weather and the likelihood of them sharing their stingers with course participants increases dramatically!  If it is necessary to cancel a course due to the weather then we will either refund you the full cost of your place or attempt to arrange an alternative date for you.

Original Article

Weekend introduction to beekeeping

This course goes into far greater detail and depth than the day experience, and is ideal for those that have already decided to take on their first hive of bees, or have recently acquired their first colony.

Introduction - This two day course is designed to give you a complete introduction to keeping bees.  It will give you a comprehensive insight into beekeeping and what it entails, including a hands-on session in the Apiary with our bees.

The Course – This is a combination of theory, practice and demonstration with opportunities to participate at all levels.

After each course you will go away with a comprehensive set of notes and guidance and be able to contact us or more help should you need it.

Programme:

Day One

The Fundamentals of Beekeeping - Recognising bees in the UK; the different types of honeybee within a colony; the alternative types of hive, their construction and materials; clothing and equipment; siting your hive.

Practical Session - A look at the separate parts of the beehive and a practical session making frames.

The Apiary visit - Opening up a number of hives to show you when to look and what to look for; how to be safe and how it all works inside a hive.

Day Two

The Beekeeping Calendar - Seasonal tasks and Integrated Pest Management, including basic swarm control and what to do with all that honey!

Hands on in the Apiary - Your chance to open up a hive for inspection and learn some practical management tasks.

Equipment - We will provide all protective beekeeping equipment, including gloves and tops, but you should wear a long sleeve top, trousers (not too flimsy!) and wellies or stout shoes with socks you can tuck your trousers into.  Please wear clothing that you do not mind getting messy, and a waterproof coat or jacket!

Price - £170 per adult (£120 children under 16 when accompanied by a paying adult), including refreshments & a ploughman’s style lunch of local delicacies and our own produce.

Time - 10am - 4pm each day

Maximum No. of Students - 6

Location – A J Apiaries, Pinewood School, Hoe Lane, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 9PB

Please note that whilst we do our best to ensure that you do not get stung if you are aware that you have a severe allergic reaction to bee stings these courses are not for you as they all involve working with live bees.

Terms & Conditions of Booking Courses

Cancellations:

Bookings for our courses are non-refundable and non-transferable.  However, if you let us know that you are unable to attend, we will do our utmost best to resell your place(s).  In the event that we are successful, we will refund you the cost of your place, less an administration fee of 20% per place.  We require a minimum of 7 days notice for all cancellations.

In the event of there being fewer than four people on any one course, we reserve the right to cancel the course in which case a full refund of the course fees will be provided, but we cannot be held responsible for any other expenses incurred in advance of the course.  We will do our utmost best to arrange an alternative date for you.

Our beekeeping courses can only take place with fair weather conditions – the bees do not enjoy being manipulated during inclement weather and the likelihood of them sharing their stingers with course participants increases dramatically!  If it is necessary to cancel a course due to the weather then we will either refund you the full cost of your place or attempt to arrange an alternative date for you.

Original Article

Full-day experience

For those who are interested in taking the first step towards looking after their own bees.  The day will cover all the practical considerations that need to be taken into account when starting beekeeping including siting an apiary, essential and desirable equipment, the beekeepers year and the processing of hive produce – plus many other aspects of this rewarding hobby.

Introduction - This one-day course is designed to give you a complete introduction to keeping bees.  It will give you a comprehensive insight into beekeeping and what it entails, including a hands-on session in the Apiary with our bees.

The Course - This is a combination of theory, practice and demonstration with opportunities to participate at all levels.  If you wish to come with a particularly keen partner, but just want to look, this course is still suitable - there are plenty of jobs to occupy an Assistant Beekeeper!

After each course you will go away with a comprehensive set of notes and guidance and be able to contact us or more help should you need it.

Programme:

Part One - The Fundamentals of Beekeeping: Recognising bees in the UK; the different types of honeybee within a colony; the alternative types of hive, their construction and materials; clothing and equipment.

Part Two - A visit to the Apiary: Opening up a number of hives to show you when to look and what to look for; how to be safe and how it all works inside a hive.

Part Three - The Beekeeping Calendar: How to look after your bees during the year.

Part Four - Getting Started: Where to find equipment, books and fellow beekeepers.

Equipment - We will provide all protective beekeeping equipment, including gloves and tops, but you should wear a long sleeve top, trousers (not too flimsy!) and wellies or stout shoes with socks you can tuck your trousers into.

Price - £85 per adult (£55 children under 16 when accompanied by a paying adult), including refreshments & a ploughman’s style lunch of local delicacies and our own produce.

Time - 10am - 4pm

Maximum No. of Students - 6

Location – A J Apiaries, Pinewood School, Hoe Lane, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 9PB

 Please note that whilst we do our best to ensure that you do not get stung if you are aware that you have a severe allergic reaction to bee stings these courses are not for you as they all involve working with live bees.

Terms & Conditions of Booking Courses

Cancellations:

Bookings for our courses are non-refundable and non-transferable.  However, if you let us know that you are unable to attend, we will do our utmost best to resell your place(s).  In the event that we are successful, we will refund you the cost of your place, less an administration fee of 20% per place.  We require a minimum of 7 days notice for all cancellations.

In the event of there being fewer than four people on any one course, we reserve the right to cancel the course in which case a full refund of the course fees will be provided, but we cannot be held responsible for any other expenses incurred in advance of the course.  We will do our utmost best to arrange an alternative date for you.

Our beekeeping courses can only take place with fair weather conditions – the bees do not enjoy being manipulated during inclement weather and the likelihood of them sharing their stingers with course participants increases dramatically!  If it is necessary to cancel a course due to the weather then we will either refund you the full cost of your place or attempt to arrange an alternative date for you.

Original Article

Half-day taster

For those that have an interest in bees and are keen to find out more about this fascinating social insect.  Come and get close up to the bees and take the opportunity to have all those questions you didn’t know who to ask answered by an experienced beekeeper.

Introduction - This half day course is designed to give you a basic introduction to keeping bees.  It will provide you with an insight into beekeeping and what it entails, including a practical demonstration in the Apiary with our bees.

The Course – This is a combination of theory, practice and demonstration with opportunities to ask questions throughout.

After each course you will go away with a comprehensive set of notes and guidance and be able to contact us or more help should you need it.

Programme:

Part 1 – An introduction to beekeeping and the life of a honeybee

Part 2 – A visit to the apiary to see the bees up close and personal

Equipment - We will provide all protective beekeeping equipment that is required on this course, including gloves and tops, but you should wear a long sleeve top, trousers (not too flimsy!) and wellies or stout shoes with socks you can tuck your trousers into.

Price - £50 per adult (£35 children under 16 when accompanied by a paying adult), including refreshments & a choice of fresh, home baked cakes and biscuits!

Time - 12:00 - 4pm

Maximum No. of Students - 8

Location - A J Apiaries, Pinewood School, Hoe Lane, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 9PB

Please note that whilst we do our best to ensure that you do not get stung if you are aware that you have a severe allergic reaction to bee stings these courses are not for you as they all involve working with live bees.

Terms & Conditions of Booking Courses

Cancellations:

Bookings for our courses are non-refundable and non-transferable.  However, if you let us know that you are unable to attend, we will do our utmost best to resell your place(s).  In the event that we are successful, we will refund you the cost of your place, less an administration fee of 20% per place.  We require a minimum of 7 days notice for all cancellations.

In the event of there being fewer than four people on any one course, we reserve the right to cancel the course in which case a full refund of the course fees will be provided, but we cannot be held responsible for any other expenses incurred in advance of the course.  We will do our utmost best to arrange an alternative date for you.

Our beekeeping courses can only take place with fair weather conditions – the bees do not enjoy being manipulated during inclement weather and the likelihood of them sharing their stingers with course participants increases dramatically!  If it is necessary to cancel a course due to the weather then we will either refund you the full cost of your place or attempt to arrange an alternative date for you.

Original Article

Free local Swarm Collection Service

If you have a swarm of honeybees in your garden and you don’t want them to make it their permanent home, it’s best to have them removed as quickly as possible by experienced swarm collectors.  Call Adrian on 07813 878853 - I can sometimes collect them at short notice around Hertford, Ware and the immediate surrounding area.

Safety First

You may hear people say that a swarm of honeybees is not aggressive, this to a large extent is true, but remember, the swarm will contain thousands, or likely tens of thousands of bees, all equipped with a sting which they are prepared to use if they feel threatened either as a colony or individually.  If you see a swarm, please keep children, pets and yourself a safe distance from it.

Identifying a Swarm of Honeybees

When you see a swarm of bees in the garden they will be either swirling in the air, or hanging in a beard type shape, probably in a tree or on a fence, but it can be almost anywhere, they have been seen in buildings and on cars amongst other unusual and difficult to reach places, making life rather interesting for swarm collectors.

1. Swirling in the air – If what you have seen is literally thousands, or possibly tens of thousands of bees swirling around in the air (they probably all settled somewhere quite quickly) they are honeybees. No other insects are of a similar size and swarm quite like the honeybee does.
2. A settled mass of bees – Before the swarm finds a permanent new home it will settle somewhere, often in a tree, but it can be almost anywhere, they usually hang in a long beard type shape.  From here some of the workers will fly out and look for a new location for their new home, then come back and eventually the whole swarm will up and move to the new location, but beware as they like dark dry places, so a crack in the chimney, or at the end of the eaves can look like a great place to them, once they move in somewhere like this, removal becomes much more difficult, sometimes impossibl

If you do happen to see one of the honeybees close up, it will be almost 2cm in length and a similar shape to a wasp, with a striped abdomen, the colours can vary from almost black to much lighter orange, almost beige stripes, they are slightly hairy too, but you would have to be very close to notice that.

Similar Flying Insects

Wasps, Hornets and any one of the other 250 species of bees which live in the UK can look fairly similar to the Honeybee, however although Wasps, Hornets and Bumble Bees all live in colonies none of them swarm and all other bees are solitary, so don’t live in colonies (although they can live in very close proximity to each other).

Bumblebees

• Bumblebees are often confused with honeybees.
• However they are rounder, larger and furrier and come with a variety of coloured stripes across the end of their tails.  Are they in a bird box, under the decking, in the compost?
• Leave them alone if possible. Bumblebees are an important pollinator and rarely sting.  Bumblebees are under threat of extinction.

I will not come out to collect or remove Bumblebees

Solitary bees

• Are there lots of small bees popping in and out of the wall or very small holes in the ground.
• Do they have a reddy / brown bottom?
• Are they almost black?
• These are Solitary Bees, they are harmless and as their name suggest live more or less alone.
• They aren’t interested in you and should be left alone.

I will not come out to collect or remove Solitary Bees

Wasps

• Are they bright yellow with black stripes?
• Very smooth mainly yellow with black stripes?
• Are they in the roof of your house?
• Are they coming from a round nest in a tree?
• Is there a nest in the shed?
• Do they have a high-pitched buzz?
• Are they after all things sweet?
• Then these are probably Wasps.

I will not come out to collect or remove Wasps

Hornets

• Are they very big with a loud buzz?
• Are they black and brown with a hint of orange?
• Living in the roof or shed?
• Do they have a very big curved tail?
• These are Hornets.

I will not come out to collect or remove Hornets

Honeybees

• Honeybees are small and vary in colour from golden brown to almost black, to almost yellow.
• This is what a swarm of honeybees looks like.
• If you are looking at these then please get in touch with me and I will provide appropriate help or advice with your honey bee swarm.

I will always come out to collect or remove Honeybees if I can

What Swarm Collectors do

As long as the queen is in the box or Skep used, the workers will follow, some standing at the entrance with their abdomen in the air, buzzing their wings, this is to waft pheromones outwards, so any other bees from the swarm who were flying when they were moved can find them in the new location.

What do we do with the Bees?

When a honeybee swarm is collected, it is taken away from the area and placed in a hive, assuming the queen is there they will usually start drawing out honeycombs and the queen will begin to lay eggs, as soon as this happens we know they are well and truly settled. They are then monitored for disease and parasites and treated accordingly, if required.

Why not just leave them where they are?

If left alone they will usually fly away again, sometimes in hours, other times days, but usually to a permanent home fairly close by.  When they are in a swarm they are usually relatively easy to access, however when they set up permanent residence it can be much harder to have them removed.  A favourite location is in a chimney stack or a crack in a wall which leads to a cavity on the inside, this makes a honeybee swarm collectors task very tricky.  The entrance could be close to a populated area, so it’s best to not give them the chance to become a more permanent problem.

Wild colonies (and swarms) of honeybees are affected by the Varroa mites too, so often a wild swarm, if not treated by a beekeeper and possibly also fed for their first winter, may not survive. By spotting a swarm and calling me or any other beekeeper to collect it, you are actually helping the UK’s declining honeybee population.

Pest Control

I do not specialise in pest control and will not kill the bees for you!  If you have a wasps nest which needs removing it’s best to call a professional pest control company, as they will have the suitable equipment and insurances to deal with wasp removal, honeybee swarm collectors use different equipment to catch as opposed to killing them!

If you are thinking ‘I have a swarm of honeybees, a nest of bees, a swarm of bees, a bees nest’ or anything else you might call them please do get in touch, I would be more than happy to remove the problem.

Honey Bee Swarm collection in Hertford, Ware and immediate surrounding area – if you don’t fall into one of these areas then I can usually put you in touch with someone closer to you who may be able to help.  Just call, text or leave me a message on 07813 878853 - I’m always happy to help!

Original Article

Please find below the agreed Call Duck Breed Standard taken from the current standards published by the Call Duck Association and British Waterfowl Association:

Classification – Call

Origin - Possibly imported from Asia into Holland.

Named from the Dutch word kooi, meaning ‘cage’ or ‘trap’, decoy duckshave been used for centuries in Holland and Britain to lure wild ducks into mesh structures (decoys).  Francis Willoughby (1678) wrote that we imitated the Dutch to entrap wild mallards.  The early decoy ducks were in fact little different from mallards, being decoys by training and performance rather than looks.  Two key characteristics led to their modern development - they had to be highly vocal (hence ‘call’ ducks) to attract the wild ducks, and they had to be small and thus easy to carry.  It was the Dutch decoys that introduced the characteristics so prized in these birds.

Calls were first standardised in Britain as one of the four breeds of ducks in the Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry (1865).  There were two varieties - the ‘white’ and the ‘grey’, the latter having ‘bill, legs, and plumage the same as in the Rouen’.  Tegetmeir (1867) wrote that, like bantam fowl, they differ from ordinary breeds in their small size.  He noted that shape of the head was also distinctive - ‘they are most esteemed when possessing a full round forehead, with a broad short bill.’

The origin of these dwarf characteristics in ducks is not known, although the Dutch artist C. S. Th. van Gink (1932) suggested that they may have been imported from the Far East alongside Japanese bantam fowl.  It is believed that Call Ducks became popular in Europe around 1800.

After 1865 Call ducks were left out of the Poultry Club Standards altogether until they were mentioned again in 1954, but only as ‘Ornamental Ducks’ alongside Carolina and Mandarin ducks, etc.  The 1971 edition provided further Standards for the ‘Decoy’, also in the original colours, ‘white’ and ‘brown’.  Despite Harrison Weir’s mention of Calls in blues and buffs as early as 1902, it took until 1982 for any new colour descriptions to be included - Pied, Blue Fawn and Silver.

Shape - male and female.

Carriage - Nearly level from breast to stern.

Head - Relatively large.  Round, with a high crown, rising abruptly from the bill.  Eyes large, round and alert, set fairly centrally, the base of the eye in line with the top of the bill, which is broad and short, maximum length 3.1cm (1¼ inches), set squarely in the head.  Full cheeks.

Neck - Short and thick.

Body - Small and compact, broad and deep with a full breast.  Tail carried almost level.

Legs and feet - Legs short, set midway in the body.

Weights – Drake 0.6–0.7 kg (1 ¼ –1 ½ lb), Duck 0.5–0.6 kg (1–1 ¼ lb).

Scale of points:
Carriage - 10
Head, bill and neck - 20
Body - 20
Legs and feet - 5
Condition - 10
Colour - 20
Size - 15

General Major Defects

(In both sexes and all varieties)

Thin-bodied, boat-shaped body.  Legs positioned too far back causing breast to tip.  Long, slim neck.  Flat crown, oval head or square head showing a flat top.  Narrow cheeks, uneven cheeks e.g. from sinus infection.  Long, narrow bill.  Oversize.  Long shanks

Genotypes

Variety - Colour Genes

Mallard - Wild-colour

Blue Mallard - Wild-colour, single blue dilution (Bl / bl+)

Apricot Mallard - Wild-colour, double blue dilution (Bl / Bl)

Silver - Harlequin phase, dusky

Blue Silver - Harlequin phase, dusky, single blue dilution

Apricot Silver - Harlequin phase, dusky, double blue dilution

Mallard Dusky - Dusky, dark phase

Blue Dusky - Dusky, dark phase, single blue dilution

Apricot Dusky - Dusky, dark phase, double blue dilution

Black- Epistatic, dominant E / E

Chocolate - Epistatic, dominant E / E, sex linked brown dilution (d / [d])

Bibbed - Black with single blue, double blue (lavender) or brown dilution (chocolate), bibbed gene (S / S), white primaries (w / w)

Magpie - Black (with either blue or brown dilutions), bibbed (S / S) and pied genes (R / R)

Mallard Pied - Wild-colour with pied gene (R / R)

White - Epistatic, recessive c / c

Yellow Belly - Not fully investigated

Colour

APRICOT MALLARD [Apricot] MALE – our current drakes

Head and Neck - Pigeon blue (blue-grey) on the head and upper neck; a white collar almost encircling the neck.

Eyes - Brown.

Bill - Light green, dark bean.

Back -Light grey feathers with darker edge, shading to blue-grey at the rump.

Breast - Claret with no white fringing; margin of claret clearly defined.

Flanks etc. - Very light grey feathers with apricot-grey stippling.

Tail - Light grey, central feathers darker than outer.  Blue grey undertail.

Wings - Primaries and coverts light pearl grey with apricot tinge; secondaries (speculum) darker pearl grey tipped with whitish grey.  Tertials grey, apricot tinge on outer part.  Greater coverts tipped with whitish grey then darker grey.  Scapulars grey, edged with pale brown.  Cream/white underwing.

Legs - Orange.

APRICOT MALLARD [Apricot] FEMALE – our current ducks

Head and Neck - Apricot with darker band of pale blue-grey graining on crown and neck.

Eyes - Brown.  Faint eye stripes as in the Mallard Call.

Bill - Light brown with dark saddle.

Back - Light grey feathers edged with apricot.

Breast and flanks - Rich apricot.  Underbody similar.

Tail - Apricot-grey.

Wings - Primaries, secondaries and greater coverts as drake.  Minor coverts light grey edged with apricot.  Scapulars grey, edged or tinged with apricot.  Cream/white underwing.

Legs - Orange.

Disqualifications

Male - Absence of neck ring.  Unbroken neck ring.  Claret on flank feathers.  Completely white stern.

Female - Presence of white collar.  Lack both of eye stripes and graining on the crown.

Both - White primaries.  Pied markings on the head and neck.

Major Faults

Male - Yellow bill.  White fringing on bib feathers.

Female - Broad or no apricot edging on the back feathers.  Pale throat and eye markings.

Both - White feathers under the bill, under the throat or under the tail.

Minor faults

Male - Black marks on bill.  Lack of blue undertail.

Original Article