Sometimes labels on pork dont make it exactly clear...

Sometimes labels on pork don't make it exactly clear in which country the pigs have been reared, so please try and make sure that the pork you buy is reared in the UK where the welfare standards are assured to a higher standard than the rest of the EU and you will be supporting the UK pig industry too, which needs all the help it can get.

Just got my food safety certificate

  

I have the Bee Buzz.... zzzz...

Hive Number One:

Lots has gone on over the last two weeks, on Saturday's inspection we found lots of play cups (these are when the colony practices how to make queen cells), we got rid of them all and have moved over to a double rather than single brood which means we now have almost two colonies in one hive. So we have a lots of bees and lots more soon to hatch. Now that the queen has some more space I hope that she will stay,
but from now on i have to have a look every 7 days, so as not to lose half of my colony through swarming.

I've added a super with new foundation so I hope to see some stores of honey soon as the  rape is out in the fields now.

 

Hive Number Two:

Is coming a long nicely now, have not managed to see the Queen in this hive this year but she is there as we can see laying eggs.

I set out my bait hive to see if we can lure a swarm in, this is not uncommon I've left it in a garden where I collected a swarm last year.

Looking forward to lots of lovely Hertfordshire honey soon!

Free Range

To be truly free range a pig should have lived its entire life outside with access to open space and have the opportunity to display natural behavior.

The Rare Breeds Survival list

Throughout the world one breed of farm animal becomes extinct every month. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is working to make sure that this does not happen in the UK. They have produced a watchlist of threatened native cattle, goats, horses, pigs, poultry and sheep. Conservation criteria determine into which category breeds are listed.

Rare breed pigs include:

1. Critical 

 N/A

 

2. Endangered 

 British Lop

 

3. Vulnerable 

 Large Black; Middle White 

 

4. At Risk

Tamworth; Welsh;  Berkshire

 

5. Minority 

British Saddleback; Gloucestershire Old Spots

Taken from the RBST website 

The New Year's Bee Keeping is about to start!

Both hives are doing really well, Margaret has done a great job feeding them fondant over the last few months. We just had a quick look last weekend as the weather is not the best at the moment (the interior of the hive has to be kept at a nice constant temperature....) We are just four weeks away from our first big honey flow, so there's lots to plan like artificial swarming, first honey harvest and hopefully collecting swarms. I'm on a weekly night out doing a bee course at the moment, I'll let you know how things go...

Cardona & Son