- Joined
- Jul 23, 2009
- Messages
- 36,778
- Reaction score
- 17,412
- Location
- Ceredigion
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 6
A lot more hedgerow back in those days...
My neighbour has kept bees for nearly 40 years and she has detailed records of her hives right from the beginning. We sat down one day with a bottle of homemade wine (fatal!) and went through them with immense nostalgia on her part.
She says that hedgerows are all cut and everything is too tidy. Surrounding fields are treated with herbicides and fertiliser to feed livestock. 150lb per hive was not unheard of when she first started...even varroa at first made little difference but farming practice has had the most significant impact....
And then farms were broken up and sold piecemeal to off-comers to lead the country life with their pet sheep, chicken, pigs AND BEES......lots of them