Bees and Cows

May must have been the most eventful month I have ever experienced here at Spetchley. We’ve had a herd of cows in the garden, 4 swarms of bees, a loose cockatiel, a robin nesting in the potting shed and a large tree branch blown down. And Debbie has been away for a week and missed all the excitement, all just before the Bank Holiday weekend.

After breaking into the gardens for the second time in 5 months, the cows, and their calves decided to wander up the New Lawn, across the main lawn and into the car park field. The stockman, Ron was away on holiday so Steve, Richard and myself managed to round them up and encourage them back through the gap in the fence. Then Chris, the Forester, spent the next couple of days fixing the fence, whilst I pruned damaged trees, filled in hoof marks and did general repairs. After which the cows decided to go travelling again. Thankfully, this time they didn’t manage to get into the gardens.

Towards the end of May the bees in the hollow wall in the kitchen garden became very busy. We noticed a swarm on the Thursday, so called Miss Berkeley’s gardener Maurice to take them away. He had lost 6 colonies over the winter. On the Friday he arrived all suited up, with a straw basket, and proceeded to brush the swarm off the wall and into the basket, which he then covered with a cloth. On Saturday morning I went to check the bees and there was a second swarm. (See Pic) Another call to Maurice ensured that they were also taken to a good home. The third swarm found a home back in the wall, and the fourth moved to a tree near the lake where it was collected by another local bee keeper.

A lovely little cockatiel took up residence for about a week in our yard. Miss Berkeley took to feeding it birdseed, which it really enjoyed. However, cockatiels can’t cope with cold or wet, and as the weather was nasty at the time John the Gamekeeper set up a Larsen trap, and caught the bird. It has now gone to a good home with other cockatiels.

The gardens are looking lovely, with paeonies out, the promise of beautiful borders, the late flowering tulipa sprengeri in stunning red drifts, and the veg garden coming on a treat.


Best wishes until next month

Kate