I took some bottles to be recycled yesterday, en route to Colchester. Among them were some empty spice jars, and being a eco-conscious citizen (though not that green or we'd have bought refills instead of new jars) I took the plastic tops off first and put them in with the recycling for collection. One of the jars must have contained garlic powder, and have not been entirely empty, because it tipped its last contents into the boot of my car. I drove off last night to a lecture on bee diseases in a rich fug of garlic.
I had expected to see a bee inspector, but must have not been paying attention, because the talk was by my old bee tutor, now president of Essex Beekeepers. It turned out that we had been going to have a disease expert, but she was temporarily unable to drive following a hip operation. She has promised to visit us in the summer, bringing with her frames infected with genuine American and European foul brood, so that we can see what they look like. Thses are about the most serious bee diseases there are in the UK, and if you think your bees have got them you should call a bee inspector. She has a special Ministry licence to allow her to keep diseased comb on the premises, but I wondered about us, and whether we would have to attend the lecture in paper suits which we then burned. Last night's talk was about Nosema, a disease of the gut, and Acarine, a disease of what passes in a bee for lungs (trachea, for those of you who remember your O level biology). They do get rather a lot of diseases, but it doesn't do to dwell on it unduly, since they have been around for millions of years and are probably not about to give up yet.
This morning I set off again, still in a haze of garlic even after shaking out the boot liner, to borrow some plants for a talk I'm doing tonight at another beekeeping division, about bee friendly plants. I expect it will be alright on the night, but I don't have a good feeling about it in advance. It's half way across the county, the person who booked me has not confirmed it in writing and left a message on the answerphone saying she wouldn't be there and leaving me the phone number of another person, and the hall they use doesn't have dedicated parking, but it will be OK to use Sainsbury's carpark, then carry the plants up an alleyway to the hall. Let's hope that I don't end the evening having been fined for misuse of the car park. And that the Treasurer has been told what my fee is. Beekeepers are mostly nice people, so it will probably be OK, but for organisation give me a nice bossy WI or long established garden club any day of the week.
One of the plants I borrowed was a Mahonia japonica, already in flower several months early. This autumn has confused mahonias thoroughly. My M. x media 'Winter Sun' has been blooming for weeks, not just one or two out of season flowers but a full display. It will be interesting to see if it does it again at the normal time and this is an extra effort, or if it has just shifted in the calendar. The M. japonica has a very beautiful scent, which almost managed to overcome the garlic on the way home. It is very attractive to bees, and I had to shake several off it when I picked it up.
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