Beekeeping and the Smallholder and Garden Show 2008

Yesterday we went to check on the bees. We'd left it long enough that the two hives without queens should have hatched out a couple of emergency queens, the queens should have gone on their mating flight, and they should have been starting to lay new bees. However, neither of them had queens. The queen larva in the new hive had died inside the cell (see pic) and the other one...well, there was no brood at all. We gave each hive another frame full of brood and eggs from our one productive hive, and so they have another chance now (this is also good becuase the productive one is the only hive of nice docile bees - if it works we will have three hives of nice docile bees!). If they still don't manage to create new queens, the ones we ordered from a local queen breeder will have arrived by then anyway. So all is not lost.

The good-tempered and productive hive has already filled one super (so heavy that I can't lift it on my own!!) and is onto its second. If the weather perks up again and stays good (touch wood), it may be a 3-super year...it would certainly make up for the problems we have been having with the other two hives!


Smallholder & Garden Festival, Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Saturday 17 May 2008


On Friday night we drove up to Wales and stayed in the shoebox, and then on Saturday we went to the Smallholder & Garden Festival at the Royal Welsh Showground.


It was such good fun. The place was absolutely heaving, and there were all small producers there selling their produce, and smallholders had brought their animals along to show, and their were demonstrations of sheep shearing, spinning, weaving, blacksmithing, etc. A really interesting day. Below are some pics.


The angora goats were the first thing we visited. Poppy loves goats and wants to get some (not in my garden!) and has even been on a goat keeping course at the local farm, where she learned to worm them, vaccinate them, trim their hooves, etc. But hadn't managed to convince me until Saturday.
The angoras seemed very good natured, and although they had obviously been pampered for the show, I was surprised to find that they were not as smelly as I have always believed goats to be. The memories of the foul-smelling neglected billy goat that used to live down by the canal evaporated. Apparently you shear angoras twice a year, which was a very persuasive factor. Just think how much mohair I would have to knit with! So angoras are in, when we finally get somewhere big enough to keep them.



Next we looked at some llamas and alpacas. I have a very soft spot for alpacas. They make my heart melt into a gooey mess. They are beautiful. And their fibre is exquisite. I finally managed to convince the more sceptical of my family ("so what do you do with them? are they for meat or do you just knit them?") that alpacas are graceful, beautiful, friendly, and that their beautiful fibre is worth the effort of keeping them. I have not told them the price of your average alpaca however. Better drop that bombshell when our plans are underway.

I am not so keen on the llamas though. Whereas alpacas are small and if you needed to you could easily overpower and restrain them, llamas are tall and their ears are frighteningly large (I don't know why their ears frighten me, but they look somehow unnatural). Also the farm used to have two, but they had to get rid of them when they nearly killed someone. So llamas are a no. But alpacas are a yes! Next was more goats. Yes more of them. The kids are very sweet but I am not won over by the Anglo-Nubians that Poppy is so fond of. Again it is the ears. They are just too big to be allowed. However, the Father Being tried some goats cheese and liked it, and liked the Boer goats. I may not manage to get away with only woolly goats. I may have to tolerate dairy and meat goats too. Oh well. The pigs were spectacular!!! They were all just lolling around in their pens fast asleep. Then when judging started we hopped over to the ring and watched two boars running at them and their owners frantically running after them, whacking them with walking sticks and blocking their way with white boards that said Natwest on them. I have never been to this sort of agricultural show. It was most interesting, and at times quite amusing too.


There was also a competition for sows. They were much calmer but seemed to need to relieve themselves more often. They were beautiful pigs of all breeds, including a mangalitza. I wonder if you can knit mangalitza hair?

Above: two Gloucester Old Spots. Below: the Mangalitza
We visited the poultry section too. There was everything from pigeons to bantams to owls there. There were loads of ducklings who, if head did not overrule heart on such occasions, I would have loved to have taken home. All of them. The lot. But common sense prevailed.
The poultry section was the only bit that disappointed me really. Although lots of the birds seemed healthy, there were also lots who looked very ill and uncared for. There were two silver laced partridge wyandotte hens for sale who had the worst case of scaly leg I've ever seen - and scaly leg is very damaging if you let it take hold, as your hens can lose toes. I am no great animal rights activist but I was totally shocked by the state of some of the birds. Chickens, ducks etc are not hard to keep. There is no excuse for letting animals suffer like that. I hope they found good homes

We also walked around shedloads of sheep, who were all so beautiful! My mother fell for some badger faced Welsh Mountain (no pic I'm afraid) although I was upset to see none of my favourite Gotland sheep there. I suppose they are not a native breed though, and so quite rightfully Llandwenogs, Welsh Mountains etc. had pride of place. We watched a shearing demonstration and it was very interesting - almost like a ballet.

After a bit more walking around, a quick visit to the remnants of the green building exhibition we went to a few months ago, a lamb burger and a Crickhowellian apple juice, we went home. The next day consisted of a visit to the art gallery in the Crickhowell info centre (I LOVE it there!) and a walk along the Usk. It is so beautiful, is Wales. The English don't know what they're missing.