Nature Conservation Archives - Honey Bee Barn

Elm Trees

The elm tree once largely unnoticed, left gaps in our tree lines and hedgerows as they succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease. Towards the end of the 1970’s it became apparent that many of the trees that were part of the canopy of British woodlands were Elm trees. The Elm tree was fast disappearing and leaving…

Plant a Tree for the Jubilee. ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’ is an initiative to mark Queen Elizabeth II platinum jubilee, when we will be celebrating her 70 years on the throne. Schools, individuals, companies and anyone who wants to join in can plant a tree and highlight Britain’s ancient woodlands and trees. Groups…

Ash tree buds

Take a woodland walk and use tree bud identification to add spice to Winter woodland walks. Become an expert in tree bud identification. Signs of the changing season appear on each of our woodland walks at the moment. Although there doesn’t appear to be much to look at, especially when the trees are darkened by…

Discovering the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The amazing Biodiversity Heritage Library is one of the most astonishing resources for those with an interest in biodiversity. It is an open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives and operates globally for the benefit of all. It is a consortium of natural history, botanical, and research libraries…

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree. Advent – Day16 A partridge in a pear tree is one of the most unlikely pairings, if you will pardon the pun. The British grey partridge is a bird whose numbers have declined but much is being done to help the bird regain ground. Creating deep wild flower…

Hedgehog

When did you last see a British hedgehog in the wild? Advent Day 15 British hedgehogs usually disappear around about the end of November and begin their Winter hibernation. So we cannot expect to see them in our gardens for a few months. However I was struggling to remember when I last saw a hedgehog…

Mistle Thrush

The Mistle Thrush, the song bird of Winter. Advent Day 13 The Mistle Thrush accompanies us through the Winter days and its scratchy tuneful song can be heard high up in the canopy even when wild weather blows through. For this reason the bird is also known as ‘Stormcock’ but then it has a number…

Ivy berries

The Autumn Ivy banquet. Advent Calendar 5 The plant I most look forward to seeing in the Autumn is the flowering ivy. This is a late season feast for British insects and can be a really exciting spectacle. Ivy winds and clings its way through the hedgerows and up the trunks of trees. It is…

Robin redbreast

Robin Redbreast, Britain’s national bird. The robin redbreast always brings a smile during the Winter months. The bright red breast of the Robin and its lovely song make it one of Britain’s most recognizable birds. Sometimes called Robin redbreast, all names for the bird are Ruddock or Robinet. It is also perhaps one of our…

Treasures from the kingdom of fungi

Treasures from the kingdom of fungi. 2021 is going to be the year that I learn a lot about the kingdom of fungi. I have asked for the new book about fungi, Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake for Christmas. It seems that I am missing a huge chunk of natural history knowledge, that is the…

Lichen on tree bark

Take time to look at lichen on tree trunks this Winter. As the leaves fall from the trees it is a good opportunity to look at the lichen growing on the trunks of trees such as Hawthorn. The lichens seem to be full of colour and vigour at a time when little else seems to…

Field Pond

Looking out for lost ponds and forgotten landscapes. I am on the hunt for a forgotten landscape, not secret valleys and hidden forests but lost ponds. So it is with an old map in hand I am on the hunt for possible sites. An Ordnance Survey map of 1910 showed a small circle in one…

Trees can inform us about the geology beneath our feet

Slow Down for Trees. Most of us love a walk in woodlands. The swell of woodland birdsong in Spring, the smell of woodland decay in the Autumn, the noise of wind rushing through branches in Winter, a woodland provides a rich broth for the senses but it’s time to slow down and observe individual trees…

Creating a wildflower meadow

To cut or not to cut? Every year I find myself in a right old pickle. We grow a two acre field of grasses and meadow flowers, not for hay making but purely for the joy of watching the profusion of animals that visit it throughout the year. We wanted to establish as many native…

Importance of bees

The importance of British Bees. The importance of bees and the need to call a halt to their current demise is a complex problem. It will have escaped few peoples notice that there has been an overall decline in the number of British bees over the last fifty years or so and that this pattern…

Grow an oak tree

Make this the year to grow an oak tree. 2020 has been a unlike any other and sometimes it can be hard to find the positive things. Make 2020 the year you grow an oak tree. So many of us have looked to nature and the natural world to gives us a sense of reassurance…

The web of the Orb Spider

What nature inspires art, could it be the orb spider? Many artists and writers use nature to inspire their work. I felt inspired by the orb spider on my walk in the field today. It made me think how nature inspires art. The landscape artist looks to the shape and texture of the landscape and…

Growing wildflowers from seed. No matter how small your own patch of green earth is there is always space for a patch of wildflowers and grasses. The benefits of growing traditional British native wild flowers is immense for all our pollinators including the bees and butterflies and it is also important as part of our…