preparing for cordoned apples .. and improving the apiary

Steadily working through the never ending list of jobs.

I've set my sights on creating a cordon fruit hedge that will separate the orchard from the planned vegetable garden.

We already have ten cordon apple and pear trees at our allotment and hope to transplant these in the coming weeks while the plants are still dormant.

I'm working across the twenty two metres of the line of the planned hedge with my mattock, removing roots and creating a wide band of cleared earth.
Halfway there!! Hope to finish this part tomorrow.

Next week I hope to dig out post holes, concrete tannalised posts in and I might even get to digging a trench that will be lined with compost and a little well-rotted manure, ready for the transplanted trees.

Trev's job list is different and he's clearing  away rampant hedge in the apiary area at the top of the site. The brown earth shows how far across the neglected hedge had encroached.

This wider, cleared area will allow Linda and him to do some technical jiggerypokery that he did explain about artificial swarms. Apparently you can prevent bees from pouring energy into swarming and setting up new colonies by this practice.

You'd better watch this space or follow Linda's site 'Bees and Beyond' for more clarity over the coming weeks and months!!