It would appear that the Telegraph is playing down its own story on the part that mobile 'phone signals may play in the collapse of bee colonies. As mentioned in the Colony Collapse Disorder wiki, I linked to previously, as well as elsewhere on the Green Mole Forum (including our Look Local article), current possible causes include pesticides, Varroa mites, changing climate, new predators (such as the Asian hornet now in France) and interference from transmissions (studies have been inconclusive), or quite likely a combination of these factors. Thanks go to our resident permaculturist, and Transition Bookham Food Group champion, Esther, for pointing this out.

Epsom Beekeepers are looking for people who are willing to have a beehive in their garden.  I have copied the rest of this posting from their website which you will find here: http://epsombeekeepers.co.uk/

Derek Smith

Would you like to have bees in your garden but do not have the time or energy to be a beekeeper? 

How about hosting a hive?   This will give you the pleasure of discovering the fascinating world of the honeybee and also an understanding of this craft without all the work.  You can be satisfied that you are supporting pollination and biodiversity.

We at Epsom Beekeepers have members who find it difficult to find a safe space for their colony of bees.

Have you got a garden that might suitable?

The requirements of a site are:

Will the site cause a nuisance to neighbours or the general public?

Is there convenient access with minimal carrying for the beekeeper to bring in equipment?

It is essential that it is out of the public gaze.

Consideration must be given to public footpaths and your use of the land.

An experienced beekeeper will visit you to assess the suitability of your site.

If interested contact  Catherine :  e-mail: camdel36@yahoo.co.uk

As part of The co-operative's Plan BEE campaign, to help combat the effects of Colony Collapse Disorder and varroa mite infestation, the co-op are giving away packets of seeds for wild flowers that provide essential nutrition for bees. Don't forget to pick yours up from the Bookham branch whilst stocks last!

If you have an hour to spare with a cuppa this week-end is the Big Garden Birdwatch organised by the RSPB.

This winter has been particularly hard for many species and so this survey will give the RSPB an idea of how the various species are doing.

https://birdwatch.rspb.org.uk/

In our garden we recorded the following over one hour:

Woodpigeons:6

Blue tits: 4

Starling: 2

Blackbirds: 2

Great tit: 1

Song thrush: 1

Robin: 1

And we think a female blackcap

We recently posted an article on traditional skills, including beekeeping, in Gloucestershire.

However it was pointed out to us that you can learn all about bees much closer to home - in Ewell.

They run courses every year, starting in January.

Check out the Epsom division of the Surrey Beekeepers Association here. 

A community garden project has been launched in Leatherhead. The Garden is a community development and grow your own initiative managed and developed by local people and supported by a range of partners from across the public, private and voluntary sectors.

The project supports residents and organisations from within the local community who wish to learn or take part in organic growing collectively. The project is also an opportunity for people to mingle and get to know one another.

Find more about it at their website. They would be delighted to welcome you.

This year's British Science Festival is focused around Guildford.

There are events from the 5th to 10th September including a large number of interest to visitors to this blog. For the full list click here.

Here are some excerpts:

Wednesday July 8th 2009 at 7.30pm in Capel Memorial Hall.

Permaculture (a contraction of the words - permanent + agriculture) seeks to follow practices that do not damage and exhaust the soil, nor to rely on fertilisers and pesticides.

Its principles are based on close observation of natural systems, and on studying farming traditions in countries where crops continue to be abundant despite growing year-on-year on the same soil.

A speaker from the flourishing permaculture movement in Brighton will describe in detail these basic principles and show how they can be applied to gardening and vegetable-growing.

Learn how to enrich your soil, reduce the hard work of digging, increase your mulching and conserve moisture.

Refreshments available. All welcome.

Tickets £4.00; members of Capel Goes Green £2.00

www.capelgoesgreen.org.uk

Green Mole Garden

On Sunday we opened our garden to the public within the Bookham Open Garden days and it was a very successful day.  About 250 people walked trough our fairly small patch during the day and we had so many positive comments about what we were trying to do that we felt all the efforts were well worth it.

The write-up on the garden (about wildlife, savings water, organic treatments, introducing edible plants, flowers for the bees, ornaments and composting) was very well received and people gave me lots of tips, some of which I shall definitely try out in future.

I had heard about the properties of Comfrey (you macerate the leaves and they provide both an insecticide and a fertilizer) before, my mum used to use nettles to the same effect.

The other interesting tips were the slug repellents (copper bands apparently do work very well, ground coffee, but also most interestingly garlic spray – the Lady had picked that one up at the Chelsea Flower show and now her Hostas are doing fantastically). Now being French I probably had my first dose of garlic via breast milk, I love the stuff and I also know how many medicinal properties it has.

So apparently you crush garlic, boil it and then use the water – diluted but I don’t know in how many parts – as a spray that repels the slugs.  Might not work with French slugs but apparently it works a treat over here.

One Lady has resolved the beer problem (our hubbys generally don’t like it when we pinch their beer and give it to the slugs to make theirs a happy demise) by sending her hub to the pub with an empty milk bottle.  The nice bar tender lets him have the dregs at the end of the evening…

Also a big thank you to those who helped and to those who offered. We raised nearly £100 for the Bookham Community Association.

Happy Green Gardening!

Esther

Aiming to 'hit that standby'. Many devices use virtually as much power on standby as 'on'. Turn them off at the wall! 

On Sunday 7th June 2009, the Green Mole Forum took part in the River Mole Discovery Day run by the Lower Mole Countryside Management Project.

Despite ominous clouds the weather held up beautifully, and all who came were treated to a range of stands from different organisations and walks and talks about the wildlife surrounding this precious resource.

The Green Mole Forum started putting names on the waiting list for loan of Home Energy Monitors. Interested? Contact us. More details will appear here soon.

Playing a solar powered dexterity test

The Environment Agency collecting samples of the amazing range of fish in the river.