November 28th
Honeybees at Buckfast Abbey
We were treated to a fascinating talk from Clare Densley and Martin Hann. Honeybees have been an important part of life at the Abbey since medieval times. As well as the culinary and brewing uses of the honey, the beeswax was highly prized for making candles which burn with a pure, smokeless flame.
Early in the twentieth century a young monk, later to be known as Brother Adam, arrived at the Abbey. In 1919 he took over the running of the Abbey apiaries and was instrumental in restoring colony numbers after 29 of the 45 colonies were lost to a mysterious illness. Hives were kept close together, and this resulted in disease spreading quickly between them. A breeding programme was started with the aim of producing bees that were gentle, hardy and good honey producers. This was successful but is no longer practiced as traits that help the bee’s natural resistance to disease were being lost. There are fewer hives now and they are spread around the estate to limit the chance of spreading disease.
Winter: In winter bees sole aim is to stay warm and survive. They eat their honey to give them energy and huddle together into a ‘winter cluster,’ vibrating their flight muscles to generate heat to keep the colony warm.
Spring and summer:Bees are at their most active during these seasons. A virgin queen will fly from the hive to a ‘drone congregation area’. Here, she will mate with 10-20+ drones all of whom die at the point of mating! On her return to the colony if she has not mated with enough drones to ensure a broad gene pool that will keep the colony healthy and diverse, the workers may force her out and make a new queen. Eggs develop into drones or worker bees. Worker bees are sterile females and live for about five weeks. Spending the first few weeks on housekeeping duties, they keep the hive clean and feed the larvae. During their last few weeks they fly, foraging for propolis (a sticky substance produced by trees which they use to seals cracks and crevices in the hive), nectar and pollen, laying down stores for the autumn and winter. Workers communicate the exact location of nectar and pollen each day through the wiggle dance. Chemical signals, pheromones, produced by the queen, are passed to all the workers in the colony to reduce their urge to build queen cells. If the hive gets too crowded, then the bees will swarm. The old queen, and about half of the colony feed up on honey and take flight to find a new home. A new queen will be created by the bees remaining in the hive by feeding a young larva with royal jelly. Bees prefer open flowers that give easy access to the nectar. Flowers that have rapidly refilling nectarines are particularly favoured. In spring these include tree flowers of Sycamore, Willow and Horse Chestnut and flowers such as Dandelions, Borage, Clover, Echiums and all the herbs. Many flowers signal to bees when they have been pollinated and no longer have nectar. For example, the center of a Forget-me-not that is white has been pollinated whereas if the center is yellow, it has not been pollinated and nectar is still available.
Autumn: In autumn Ivy can provide the nectar and pollen needed to take the colony through the winter. The drones are expelled, and will die, as they contribute nothing to the well-being of the colony.
And so, another year in the life of a bee colony comes full circle. On warmer days bees may take short flights from the hive but the focus for the next few months is to keep the queen warm and to stay alive until spring when the whole cycle will start again.
October 18th
Elizabeth Holman - 52 Weeks of colour
Elizabeth Holman is a garden designer and horticulturist based in Exeter with a small garden of her own. She came to talk to us on how to achieve 52 weeks of colour in our own gardens. With before and after photos she was able to demonstrate that, either by judicious pruning or even more radical removal of some shrubs, replacing with plants offering more interesting colour, shape or leaf we could all have more interesting gardens to admire. To liven up a boring border for instance, take out an evergreen shrub and insert a variegated plant such as a Pittosporum in its place.
The first thing to do is get the soil right for productive growth with manure, mulch and feed during the year, especially in spring when a potash fertilizer promotes flowering. The secret to all year-round colour is to buy plants which flourish over a long period such as: Geum, Acillia, Hardy Geranium, Erygium, Pinks, Penstemon, Salvias, Scabious, Osteospermum, Violas, Pansy, Heuchera, Euphorbia.
Another tip is to do the “Chelsea Chop” in May cutting back some of the growth so you get flowering later in the season. Later in July the “Hampton Hack” can also be utilised with a similar result for even later flowering These methods are so called for the RHS shows held at these times of year.
Short lived plants such as Peonies, Iris, Lupins, Hemerocallis, and Delphiniums do have their place as spot plants with drama.
Elizabeth then showed us some seasonal photos of gardens -
· Winter. Cornus with different coloured stems provide a focal point – prune those stems in March for bright stems during winter. Heathers and Helebores are traditional winter flowering plants, Nandina offers colourful leaves, so too does Bergenia often with pink flowers too. Choisia, Daphne and Mahonia are fragrant adding another aspect at this time of year. Garrya has long tassels to admire.
· Spring, Bulbs come to the fore, Elizabeth was very keen on mixing Tulips with Grape Muscari. If grown in pots, they can be inserted into the border and removed when they have gone over. Later in spring, Iris Sibirica pops through with vibrant colour. You can create impact with repetition.
· Summer follows with Agapanthus, Echinops, Lavatera, Lavender, Perovskia, Ceanothus, Hydrangea. It`s a must to tie in or prune to keep the shape, dead head regularly and of course to feed & water regularly. Roses are needy and greedy feeders, some varieties are long lasting or repeat flowering such as Iceberg, Star Performer, The Pilgrim and Rosa Rugosa. Roses should be fed at least twice a year. Clematis too have their place in the garden providing height, colour and decorative seed heads.
Autumn is the season of mellow fruitfulness with Helenium, Echinacea, Hypericum, Callicarpa with amazing purple berries, Variegated Holly and Pittosporum Tom Thumb which has very dark purple
september 2025
Batty about Dawlish Bats - Debs Ryland
Debs lead the work of a local non-profit organisation, ‘Wild Ideas’ dedicated to supporting community wildlife projects. She has been working with bats for over 15 years in conjunction with various other wildlife organisations and likes to bring a love of bats to everyone and all wildlife through walks, workshops, projects and talks.
Bats are warm blooded mammals of the order Chiroptera. In Britain there are 18 different species, 17 of them native and breeding. Most common is the Pipistrelle. Bats follow a line like a river or hedge as they use echo location, a form of sonar, using their mouth, the Horseshoe bat uses its shaped nose. Bats have sustained flight, similar to birds but they are more agile. They roost in trees, roof spaces and barns.
The Pipistrelle bat can eat 3,000 midges in one night, typically an individual would weigh up to 47 grams. Noctule bats eat large beetles, moths and cockchafers. Long eared bats specialise in catching moths and the whispering bat has evolved their pitch of echo location to catch their prey. Daubentons Bat has large hairy feet and skims the water to feed.
All Bats fly high and come out after dusk or when its dark depending on the species, they all sense the carbon dioxide given off by living things and home in on it. They feed over water, woodland and open ground.
Around this time of year, late September early October, after mating, the bats start looking for a hibernation space. It must have a steady temperature, so caves are ideal or roof spaces in barns. Bats live in communities and come out of hibernation around March or April depending on weather conditions. They then must put on weight and need feeding up. Any pregnant females will move to maternity roosts; the pregnancy is quite short at 6-9 weeks. The young are born naked and blind; they are fed on mothers’ milk then are soon trained to fly and fend for themselves. Bats have a reasonably long life; one recorded species has lived for 22 years.
As gardeners, how do we help bats to thrive? By growing plants that flower in the evening, such as Evening Primrose, Nicotiana and honeysuckle which attracts pollinating insects that bats feed on. Also, build or invest in a Bat Box.
After the talk Debs invited members to join her on a Bat Walk as she had a sonic device which would locate any bats nearby. Unfortunately, the evening had turned damp and cold so we could not view any Bats, even near the Brook.