bees

Bees collecting pollen

Controversial pesticide use? UK is the bees knees

Well that didn’t take long, did it? No sooner was the United Kingdom out of its European Union child reins, or however the pro-Brexiteers wish to describe it, than the Government broke a promise on a bee pesticide.

According to a report by the Guardian, a pesticide that is believed to kill bees was banned by the EU two years ago – and now it has been cleared for use in the United Kingdom.

A product containing a particular pesticide has been allowed for emergency use, after lobbying by the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar. Wouldn’t you think these were two organisations that surely should know better? Their argument is that it will kill off the threat posed by a virus. We don’t want another one of those in 2021 to turn into a pandemic, I suppose.

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What are you doing for 30 Days Wild?

What are you doing for 30 Days Wild? Not heard of it? It’s the Wildlife Trusts campaign to encourage people to do 30 days of Random Acts of Wildness during June to help the environment.

Schools, groups and individuals are urged to do something to encourage biodiversity – as wide a variety of nature as possible – to thrive. It is to help tackle the climate emergency and particularly pollinators at this time of year.

One idea behind the campaign is that, whatever you do, it is habit forming. The campaign encourages participants to continue to do something for longer than 30 days. Or to take notice of nature for longer than 30 days at least.

One year, I interpreted the campaign not as doing something daily, but letting the “wild things grow” as it were, in a dedicated area.

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My sweet new babies have arrived – now what?

Experimenting in the garden is all part of the fun – and my new babies have arrived!

A few years ago I had a go at growing a peach tree, or maybe it was a nectarine, in a pot, then planted it when it seemed mature enough.

These were what I bought several relatives for Christmas and are little bullet-sized compact bundles of seeds which, when they sink in and mature, will provide an area of flowers which are lovely by bees, a garden’s favourite pollinators.

This year’s experiment will be sweet potatoes. My wife went on a diet to minimise carbohydrates, calories and starch, so switched from eating potatoes to sweet potatoes. I’m not going to show her that advice I found on the internet which says sweet potatoes are high in calories and starch. What does that sign say in the doctors’ surgery? “Your Google search is no replacement for my seven years at medical school.”

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