‘I like to be a busy, busy, bee!’

Especially when the apple blossoms are beginning to open and their nectar is so succulent.

Some chilly days and nights have featured through April though to date  -20th – no damaging frosts have occurred. We are surrounded by bare arable fields so the warmth which the soil has absorbed from the sun during the daytime is lost back to the atmosphere at night time all around us (warm air rises). Within the orchard our army of earthworms have done stirling work during the winter, as evidenced by the number of worm casts and the springiness of the sward as we walk between the trees. Warm air will rise through the night via the worm channels, also contributing to warming  the worst of any chill.

It is not always good to look back at previous years, though here at Crapes the serious frosts of April and May 1997 will never be forgotten.

Some pests are showing themselves, though Vapoura larvae are much less evident this spring. Some Apple blossom weevil and the first few Tortrix larvae can be found within the growing tips of some shoots. Chilly weather and actively nesting hungry  birds will help reduce these.

So, yes, we always have an eye over our shoulder at this time of year with regard to early dawn temperatures and the safety of the various stages of blossom bud, flowers and eventually, fruitlets. The latest damaging frost here was 6th June 1990.

There is a limit to how long the blossom nectar will remain succulent as this long dry spell continues. If it dries then it is not attractive to pollinating insects.

Our vegetable area, also , needs a few properly wet days to  enable the germinated seedlings to develop.

‘Just as busy as a bee can be!!!’