Malcolm`s Bees

Amazing bee facts that I never knew!

Bees are the only insect to produce food eaten by humans.
Honey is the only food that includes all the substances to sustain life - enzymes, vitamins, minerals and water.
Bees wings beat 200 times per second, making the distinctive buzz.
Honey bees communicate by dancing.
Each colony of bees has a unique smell for recognition.
A queen bee can live for up to 5 years.
Male bees mate and the die!
Female bees do all the work.
One bee produces 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in it`s lifetime.
Bees have two stomachs - one for food and one for nectar.
Eating honey will make you smarter as it contains an antioxidant called pinocembrin.
Hackney bees are the best.

Minimalist

Things are getting weird down Hackney way. It would appear that the planning department has gone for a minimal look this season!

Lambing

Seven hundred ewes, twelve hundred lambs, three pairs of hands, two sheep dogs, tractors, trailers and a photographer.
See the full set of pictures here.

Giant

It`s all change at the Giants Causeway.
The Folks at the National Trust have decided in their wisdom that it needed a make over.
Where once there was a carpark and a pub, there is now a carpark, cafe and a visitors centre. For £20 you can now park your car, get a coffee and look at a map. But get this – entrance to actual causeway itself is “free”.
Their motto is “For Ever, For Everyone”, but only if you can foot the bill! The Giants Causeway managed to get to the 21st Century.
I think it would have been ok all by itself into the 22nd.

Top Tips

Should you ever find yourself scrambling down a steep, wet, grassy cliff with 70 mph winds at your back, can I offer up a small suggestion?
Check you shoes.
Before you set off.
The soles.
No grip and you`ll spend the whole time worrying about getting blown off that amazing cliff on the way back up.
And remember to smile. Someone is probably filming it!

Lucy Loves Jim

Out and about on a trip to the coast in Kent for work, I detoured to Broadstairs and some seaside meandering. Only, it wasn`t the horizon that got my attention, but the rock face and freshly washed sand. I`m hoping Lucy and Jim didn`t get their feet wet.