Zara, Phil, Catherine, Louise, Richard, Dawn, Colin, Nicky, Simon, Robin, Tom, Ceri (front row) Tim, George, Rachael, Denise (and Howard behind the camera); the attendees of Meridian’s last apiary meeting of 2021 at Swanmore on Saturday 11 September. Here’s a short film from our last apiary meeting of the season (Saturday 11 September). Although overcast,Continue reading "Apiary meeting report, Swanmore – Saturday 11 September"

Pollinators are responsible for one in three of every mouthful we eat. They pollinate our crops, and are essential to the very existence of the plants and trees that support our wild animals and birds. Honeybees in managed hives are responsible for up to 15% of the UK's insect-pollinated crops. That means the other 85%Continue reading "Save the bees!"

Episyrphus balteatus, sometimes called the Marmalade fly is a type of Hoverfly. Does anyone know what those other little critter are? Here’s Esm’ee McConnell’s photograph. I think you’ll agree, it’s a definite winner! Esm’ee’s hoping her picture raises awareness in her age group, highlighting that hoverflies won’t hurt you (they have no stings) and areContinue reading "Itchen Valley photography competition"

2023 was a year of mixed fortunes. Some years, bees in the Meridian area are active from the end of February but this year, they didn’t really get going until the end of March. However, in April, May and June the weather was generally favourable and if you were lucky enough to have colonies withContinue reading "Autumn in the apiary"