Saturday 11th October.An interesting day started with Sue and I having a meeting with a new gardening client. She lives in a lovely house - the sitting room was filled with bookshelves on all walls - very much my thing and her eclectic garden was a joy though needing some attention. We are going to spend three days next week on a renovation blitz, which should be a lot of fun and hard work.
Later that morning we went to 12, Colworth Road, Addiscombe to witness Alan Sillitoe (Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) unveil a blue plaque in honour of David Herbert (DH) Lawrence who lived there from 1908-1911 during the period he taught at Davidson Road School, which is just around the corner from our house. Alan and DH are both Nottinghamshire men (along with Lord George Byron.) Found out quite a bit about Lawrence I didn't know - Sons and Lovers was written here. At 2pm we went to Davidson Road School to listen to a talk by a Nottingham University don about Lawrence's Croydon years which seemed to major on Lawrence's women friends - and quite right too!
We both enjoyed the talk but ducked out since regrettably we felt we should do some work on our new apiary sites. A visit to a DIY store produced at painful cost eight lengths of 2x2 - this is the only material on Forster Road apiary that is not recycled apart from nails and a new roll lof builders' mesh netting. This sad purchase came about because the Fearless Tom the Timber Man was, for once, unable to come up with what we needed in the way of secondhand posts for a week or two and we have to finish the job asap.
On Sunday I will be spending my first morning in the Trading Hut at the allotments as a till-lady - much to Sue's delight. As I understand it I shall be the first male till-lady and to celebrate the fact I have cooked a Dorser Apple cake since Sue is insisting that I also act as tea-lady. No macho hangups from yours truly.
Also paid my plot rents - a hundred sobs ( now I know why they call them sobs) and arbitrated over a boundary dispute at the allotments. Ended the day with Sue studying frantically for her presentation at our Bee-Info Day next Saturday and no time really to look at our new Website - yep, at last we have something to look at -still have no idea how it works but ......
Apianus
Saturday, 11 October 2008
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Don't blame me...
All around us are people saying don't blame me for the near collapse of the economy, don't blame me for the weather. Well there is a difference between things you can change and things you can't and there is also a case for blaming people who cannot see the consequences of their own actions.
Some people - politicans spring to mind - either just do not see where they have gone wrong or just as likely, know full well and want to shift the blame to some other schmuck.
The following incident may seem trivial but it illustrates the arrogance of assumng a puzzled expression and then staring accusingly at somebody else when you know you have just screwed up.
I have reached the epilogue of my wage-slave career by signing up to do 12 days of work over 3 months for my recently ex-employer which means on one day a week of my choosing I make my way with the rest of the depressed lemmings to Islington and spend the day "in dark-filled rooms". Yesterday being one such day started well enough but in the middle of the morning my computer went on the blink and connection to the server was broken. Not by co-incidence a contractor from the IT firm that is supposed to serve us was in the building messing around with a security upgrade for the 4 or 5 laptops a few of the staff use.
Having found this out I ran him to ground appropriately enough in the basement. It was quite a weird feeling to walk into this over-heated noisy replica of the engine room of the Starship Enterprise and see the contractor hooked up to the Borg machine with a cable from his laptop into the bowels of the mainframe. After some difficulty making myself heard I told him that that it was no coincidence that his presence "deus ex machina" had bu*gered the whole system. He shrugged his shoulders and said "I haven't noticed anything." Not being too long on patience I carefully explained to him that there is no such thing as coincidence, which is at best a futile attempt to avoid acceptance that consequence always follows cause and would he please extract his head from his rear USB and sort it out. Having actually forced myself all the way from home to office I was in no mood to sit around all day picking my nose whilst it occurred to him to actually look at what he had done.
I left him to it. Had an early lunch. Read the paper. Went into the database..Nothing happened.
Then I found another man who was also from the IT firm sitting out of sight in a meeting room probably playing Sudoku. 'Don't blame me, I'm just a senior executive, I'm not an engineer.'
A few seconds later his ears aflame and the seat of his trousers in need of a fire extinguisher he catapuluted himself into a lift and disappeared in the general direction of the basement.
An hour later the first man (don't blame me, I didn't do it) made the mistake of failing to use a different route which would not have taken him past my desk. He looked like a man whose last 20 years had been spent trying to find his way out of a paper bag. The blank expresion on his face and glazed eyes should have warned me not to bother but I said "Well?" Avoiding direct eye-contact he mumbled something about (don't blame me) "there's a hardware problem." Fighting the urge to tell him that there would be a hardware problem in the Casualty Dept when they tried to remove my boot from a very uncomfortable part of his anatomy, I asked him to answer yes or no, can you fix what you broke?
Now there could have been a selection of innocuous answers to my question such as - I will do my best or I'm sorry but it is going to take longer but the answer he pulled out of the box was "Don't blame me, it's a hardware problem." My hands weren't actually pried from his throat by a dozen panicked work colleagues but his squeaks of puzzled self-pity could be heard in the distant basement where his colleague was no doubt hiding. Having firmly and for me very quietly laid out for him a graphic scenario of his probable exit from this mortal coil if he didn't start taking the problem seriously I then told him he would be locked in with the Borg machine and fed only stale bread and water until he corrected HIS cock-up.
An hour later a colleague told me sheepishly that the IT geniuses had left the building (presumably via the ventilation duct) and that a new server had been ordered and would arrive by courier the following day. Furthermore the IT firm's top man would install it. Bloody glad I won't be there till next week - I bet the "top man" says don't blame me as soon as he walks into the building.
Apianus
Some people - politicans spring to mind - either just do not see where they have gone wrong or just as likely, know full well and want to shift the blame to some other schmuck.
The following incident may seem trivial but it illustrates the arrogance of assumng a puzzled expression and then staring accusingly at somebody else when you know you have just screwed up.
I have reached the epilogue of my wage-slave career by signing up to do 12 days of work over 3 months for my recently ex-employer which means on one day a week of my choosing I make my way with the rest of the depressed lemmings to Islington and spend the day "in dark-filled rooms". Yesterday being one such day started well enough but in the middle of the morning my computer went on the blink and connection to the server was broken. Not by co-incidence a contractor from the IT firm that is supposed to serve us was in the building messing around with a security upgrade for the 4 or 5 laptops a few of the staff use.
Having found this out I ran him to ground appropriately enough in the basement. It was quite a weird feeling to walk into this over-heated noisy replica of the engine room of the Starship Enterprise and see the contractor hooked up to the Borg machine with a cable from his laptop into the bowels of the mainframe. After some difficulty making myself heard I told him that that it was no coincidence that his presence "deus ex machina" had bu*gered the whole system. He shrugged his shoulders and said "I haven't noticed anything." Not being too long on patience I carefully explained to him that there is no such thing as coincidence, which is at best a futile attempt to avoid acceptance that consequence always follows cause and would he please extract his head from his rear USB and sort it out. Having actually forced myself all the way from home to office I was in no mood to sit around all day picking my nose whilst it occurred to him to actually look at what he had done.
I left him to it. Had an early lunch. Read the paper. Went into the database..Nothing happened.
Then I found another man who was also from the IT firm sitting out of sight in a meeting room probably playing Sudoku. 'Don't blame me, I'm just a senior executive, I'm not an engineer.'
A few seconds later his ears aflame and the seat of his trousers in need of a fire extinguisher he catapuluted himself into a lift and disappeared in the general direction of the basement.
An hour later the first man (don't blame me, I didn't do it) made the mistake of failing to use a different route which would not have taken him past my desk. He looked like a man whose last 20 years had been spent trying to find his way out of a paper bag. The blank expresion on his face and glazed eyes should have warned me not to bother but I said "Well?" Avoiding direct eye-contact he mumbled something about (don't blame me) "there's a hardware problem." Fighting the urge to tell him that there would be a hardware problem in the Casualty Dept when they tried to remove my boot from a very uncomfortable part of his anatomy, I asked him to answer yes or no, can you fix what you broke?
Now there could have been a selection of innocuous answers to my question such as - I will do my best or I'm sorry but it is going to take longer but the answer he pulled out of the box was "Don't blame me, it's a hardware problem." My hands weren't actually pried from his throat by a dozen panicked work colleagues but his squeaks of puzzled self-pity could be heard in the distant basement where his colleague was no doubt hiding. Having firmly and for me very quietly laid out for him a graphic scenario of his probable exit from this mortal coil if he didn't start taking the problem seriously I then told him he would be locked in with the Borg machine and fed only stale bread and water until he corrected HIS cock-up.
An hour later a colleague told me sheepishly that the IT geniuses had left the building (presumably via the ventilation duct) and that a new server had been ordered and would arrive by courier the following day. Furthermore the IT firm's top man would install it. Bloody glad I won't be there till next week - I bet the "top man" says don't blame me as soon as he walks into the building.
Apianus
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Onwards and which way is Upwards?
Recently Sue and I have been working hard on our new apiary at Forster Road and have almost completed our shed. Like me it's a just a tiny bit skew-whiff but it works. Sue has been digging for victory removing ancient and gnarled bramble roots while her ancient and gnarled partner is clambering over the shed finding problems for solutions. The ground looks like Sue has been given a treasure map with the vital X missing or has been doing a Saint Sue and visiting with the local moles. She has also dug a dozen or two post holes ready for the screen-fence and in every way has been a dynamo in rather delightful human form. Boy, would the escape commitee in Colditz have been blessed by her; she can mine for England - sorry should be the US but you know what I mean.
Last Sunday morning was raining felines and canines when we went to Hook Farm and set up a cheese 'n' wine party to say thank you for the support the plotholders have given in getting permission for the apiary on the allotments. As we were setting up Sue muttered "we forgot the cheese!!!" With a tight smile on my face I whispered leave it to me and drove off like a loony in search of a deli which, on not-so-sunny Sunday in Bromley Common would appear like wishful thinking. However less than a quarter of a mile away the dear old Co-op had its egalitarian doors open and an amazingly large selection of various cheese in the cold cabinet - so that was a quick thank you to The Man up There and back to the motley laden with Edam, Leicester,Cheddar and some strange but interesting stuff with peaches or something embedded in it - it tasted good whatever it was.
Teddy - the site manager/secretary/procurer of free dung - true to form was bustling around happily wearing a horrible green plastic mac that may have originally been used to wrap nuclear waste. It was tied in the middle with baling twine ( I think.) A dozen or so brave souls came along and were very friendly to us and each other as they always are there. I just munched on cheese and crackers and grinned inanely as usual and everybody was thinking what deep intelligent thoughts that deep intelligent fellow Apianus is having when actually I was wondering if anybody would notice I was snaffling all the little square cheesy biscuits and the Hovis digestives and wondering if I would ever be dry again.
The rain didn't clear much but we still spent a couple of lotus eating hours there and I get the feeling that nothing could ever disturb the peace and warmth of that place.
We are getting there with the website though all this mumbo-jumbo about hosting and megathingys is as meaningful as an Aztec language version of Winnie the Pooh to me. Fortunately the wise Sue has got her friend Johanna on the case and by miracle of modern communication she is building it in downtown California.
And there was I just getting used to using a quill pen. Ah well, onwards and where did you say my phone was?
Last Sunday morning was raining felines and canines when we went to Hook Farm and set up a cheese 'n' wine party to say thank you for the support the plotholders have given in getting permission for the apiary on the allotments. As we were setting up Sue muttered "we forgot the cheese!!!" With a tight smile on my face I whispered leave it to me and drove off like a loony in search of a deli which, on not-so-sunny Sunday in Bromley Common would appear like wishful thinking. However less than a quarter of a mile away the dear old Co-op had its egalitarian doors open and an amazingly large selection of various cheese in the cold cabinet - so that was a quick thank you to The Man up There and back to the motley laden with Edam, Leicester,Cheddar and some strange but interesting stuff with peaches or something embedded in it - it tasted good whatever it was.
Teddy - the site manager/secretary/procurer of free dung - true to form was bustling around happily wearing a horrible green plastic mac that may have originally been used to wrap nuclear waste. It was tied in the middle with baling twine ( I think.) A dozen or so brave souls came along and were very friendly to us and each other as they always are there. I just munched on cheese and crackers and grinned inanely as usual and everybody was thinking what deep intelligent thoughts that deep intelligent fellow Apianus is having when actually I was wondering if anybody would notice I was snaffling all the little square cheesy biscuits and the Hovis digestives and wondering if I would ever be dry again.
The rain didn't clear much but we still spent a couple of lotus eating hours there and I get the feeling that nothing could ever disturb the peace and warmth of that place.
We are getting there with the website though all this mumbo-jumbo about hosting and megathingys is as meaningful as an Aztec language version of Winnie the Pooh to me. Fortunately the wise Sue has got her friend Johanna on the case and by miracle of modern communication she is building it in downtown California.
And there was I just getting used to using a quill pen. Ah well, onwards and where did you say my phone was?
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Stepping up to the wicket
Having firmly asserted in my last blog that beekeepers should expand their operations and try to build rather than simply struggle to deal with the problems of colony disease and collapse disorder, I have to put my money where my mouth is and invest in the idea of trying to get more beekeepers to go the extra mile. Also it seems to me all beekeepers have a duty to encourage and inform prospective beekeepers.
This is why Sue and I are keen to create a somewhat different type of beekeeping school. There are a tiny number of admirable examples of people dedicated to teaching beekeeping; one that immediately springs to mind is John Hamer at Blackhorse Apiaries in West Surrey. Most of the courses offered elsewhere will give adequate training to budding beekeepers but I humbly believe there are a number of improvements that can be made to many of these. For example one course I attended a few years ago to try to see where gaps were in my knowledge cost a very reasonable amount of money and lasted ten weeks (2 hours an evening)but it was light on practical work and almost non-existent on the very important area of follow-up. It was designed to dump a load of knowledge of mixed value on as many people as possible at one time and then start planning for the next course(about 40 people started the course and 28 survived to the end!) Not once did any of the three tutors who often talked at cross purposes and contradicted each other, offer to be available if people needed help after the course ended. At 9pm at the end of each session they could not get the people out of the door quickly enough. Get 'em in, load 'em up, kick 'em out, shut the door. Next cattle truck!! Oh yes, sorry, they did always try to get people to join them in the pub afterwards....
After a lot of thought we have decided to limit the numbers of people we will have on each course to eight or nine. If this means running several courses in parallel, that's what we will do.
I think it makes little sense to take people through a course that is at once straightforward but at the same time heavy on know-how without being available to them on an ongoing basis in the months and years that follow. There is no way you can cover all the aspects of beekeeping in 20 hours and after years of beekeeping I can firmly say that every year I learn much more than I could have thought possible. Much of this learning will be self-taught and arises from practical experience but there are many occasions when another beekeeper's views can be invaluable. This knowledge exchange process is also two-way. No beekeeper however experienced can afford not to listen to another beekeeper, even if the Ego is telling you that this kid is too green to know what he is talking about. Listen and learn applies to teachers as well as students.
A good local club is perfect for disseminating knowledge particularly when you have done a basic course and there is nothing quite as useful as watching somebody else open a hive and carry out a particular manipulation. However, unless you get more closely involved with one or two members, meetings are usually monthly and therefore too far between to satisfy most beekeepers. This is why those who give formal lessons should be willing to continue to give advice and help after a course finishes.
What Bees'n'Beans will try to do is to provide a closer level of attention to each student both whilst on a course and in the future to continue to be there for him or her. I am sure any experienced beekeeper will agree with me that far too many new beekeepers give up in their first year or two because they are discouraged when something goes wrong.
Is beekeeping hard work? It can be very hard though it is pleasant to realise that in the coldest months of the year both you and the bees rest but do not hibernate. If like us you deliberately set out to build your apiary (ies) towards bigger numbers of colonies the amount of work can be daunting. Even so there are ways of working WITH the bees that make life a lot easier. For example using topbar hives or long hives can seriously reduce the amount of heavy lifting. This is where a conscientious teacher can lay out all options for all types of student. Unfortunately beekeeping is a craft where many aficionados foam at the mouth if you suggest their particular method may not be the final say on perfect beekeeping. I hope we don't fall into that trap. We have set up an apiary dedicated to working examples (inhabited hives) of all the most common hives in use in the UK and this can be used to show people the pros and cons of different systems without bias.
One good thing about a local club is the opportunity to network with one or several people who would be prepared to help each other at harvest time. Why don't those that run courses help connect people who want to network in this way?
Make no mistake, when you get into beekeeping you are likely to be afflicted with some seriously off-putting challenges and frankly you need to be truly committed or waste a not inconsiderable amount of money and effort you have expended on setting up your first hive. At moments when you open the hive and realise there is a problem as serious as queenlessness it is very reassuring to have somebody at the other end of the phone to whom you can pour your heart out.
Okay, I am plugging Bees'n'Beans but I think the idea of continuing contact is very important.
Another thing we see is a lack of available courses such as a "taster" session. We don't set out to provide a cheap alternative to other courses (not that there are any such courses within easy distance of where we work) in fact we believe that value should be paid for but if you know almost nothing about beekeeping how do you know you will want to keep them? Geographically we are in a good position not to be competing with other schools but that does not lead to complacency. We are passionate about our beekeeping and want to share our love of bees and the craft but it would be foolish to pretend we are not running a business. Sound business practice is to constantly add value and "Always Add Value" is one of the big needlework samplers we should have over our bed. It applies to personal relationships too, of course.
As far as I know there are very few if any intensive courses available to enable people to get to grips with the subject in say three or four days or two or three weekends. This is quite surprising. In many educational areas ( language training springs to mind) intensive courses have been offered for many years but not beekeeping. We want to offer that to individuals or small groups. A group course aimed at a particular community is another idea that is under-explored.
I any of the above makes sense to you or especially if you think I am talking out of my trouser leg please tell me!
Apianus.
This is why Sue and I are keen to create a somewhat different type of beekeeping school. There are a tiny number of admirable examples of people dedicated to teaching beekeeping; one that immediately springs to mind is John Hamer at Blackhorse Apiaries in West Surrey. Most of the courses offered elsewhere will give adequate training to budding beekeepers but I humbly believe there are a number of improvements that can be made to many of these. For example one course I attended a few years ago to try to see where gaps were in my knowledge cost a very reasonable amount of money and lasted ten weeks (2 hours an evening)but it was light on practical work and almost non-existent on the very important area of follow-up. It was designed to dump a load of knowledge of mixed value on as many people as possible at one time and then start planning for the next course(about 40 people started the course and 28 survived to the end!) Not once did any of the three tutors who often talked at cross purposes and contradicted each other, offer to be available if people needed help after the course ended. At 9pm at the end of each session they could not get the people out of the door quickly enough. Get 'em in, load 'em up, kick 'em out, shut the door. Next cattle truck!! Oh yes, sorry, they did always try to get people to join them in the pub afterwards....
After a lot of thought we have decided to limit the numbers of people we will have on each course to eight or nine. If this means running several courses in parallel, that's what we will do.
I think it makes little sense to take people through a course that is at once straightforward but at the same time heavy on know-how without being available to them on an ongoing basis in the months and years that follow. There is no way you can cover all the aspects of beekeeping in 20 hours and after years of beekeeping I can firmly say that every year I learn much more than I could have thought possible. Much of this learning will be self-taught and arises from practical experience but there are many occasions when another beekeeper's views can be invaluable. This knowledge exchange process is also two-way. No beekeeper however experienced can afford not to listen to another beekeeper, even if the Ego is telling you that this kid is too green to know what he is talking about. Listen and learn applies to teachers as well as students.
A good local club is perfect for disseminating knowledge particularly when you have done a basic course and there is nothing quite as useful as watching somebody else open a hive and carry out a particular manipulation. However, unless you get more closely involved with one or two members, meetings are usually monthly and therefore too far between to satisfy most beekeepers. This is why those who give formal lessons should be willing to continue to give advice and help after a course finishes.
What Bees'n'Beans will try to do is to provide a closer level of attention to each student both whilst on a course and in the future to continue to be there for him or her. I am sure any experienced beekeeper will agree with me that far too many new beekeepers give up in their first year or two because they are discouraged when something goes wrong.
Is beekeeping hard work? It can be very hard though it is pleasant to realise that in the coldest months of the year both you and the bees rest but do not hibernate. If like us you deliberately set out to build your apiary (ies) towards bigger numbers of colonies the amount of work can be daunting. Even so there are ways of working WITH the bees that make life a lot easier. For example using topbar hives or long hives can seriously reduce the amount of heavy lifting. This is where a conscientious teacher can lay out all options for all types of student. Unfortunately beekeeping is a craft where many aficionados foam at the mouth if you suggest their particular method may not be the final say on perfect beekeeping. I hope we don't fall into that trap. We have set up an apiary dedicated to working examples (inhabited hives) of all the most common hives in use in the UK and this can be used to show people the pros and cons of different systems without bias.
One good thing about a local club is the opportunity to network with one or several people who would be prepared to help each other at harvest time. Why don't those that run courses help connect people who want to network in this way?
Make no mistake, when you get into beekeeping you are likely to be afflicted with some seriously off-putting challenges and frankly you need to be truly committed or waste a not inconsiderable amount of money and effort you have expended on setting up your first hive. At moments when you open the hive and realise there is a problem as serious as queenlessness it is very reassuring to have somebody at the other end of the phone to whom you can pour your heart out.
Okay, I am plugging Bees'n'Beans but I think the idea of continuing contact is very important.
Another thing we see is a lack of available courses such as a "taster" session. We don't set out to provide a cheap alternative to other courses (not that there are any such courses within easy distance of where we work) in fact we believe that value should be paid for but if you know almost nothing about beekeeping how do you know you will want to keep them? Geographically we are in a good position not to be competing with other schools but that does not lead to complacency. We are passionate about our beekeeping and want to share our love of bees and the craft but it would be foolish to pretend we are not running a business. Sound business practice is to constantly add value and "Always Add Value" is one of the big needlework samplers we should have over our bed. It applies to personal relationships too, of course.
As far as I know there are very few if any intensive courses available to enable people to get to grips with the subject in say three or four days or two or three weekends. This is quite surprising. In many educational areas ( language training springs to mind) intensive courses have been offered for many years but not beekeeping. We want to offer that to individuals or small groups. A group course aimed at a particular community is another idea that is under-explored.
I any of the above makes sense to you or especially if you think I am talking out of my trouser leg please tell me!
Apianus.
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