Tuesday 30 June 2015

Beekeeping and a Crocheted Cushion

There has been some necessary beekeeping going on. Hives have been split in an attempt to stop the bees swarming. So far none of the hives have swarmed. We've heard that just about every other beekeeper in the county has had a swarm this year.








Hopefully I'm not speaking to soon, but it looks like we're going to have a really good honey harvest this year. You can read about last year's here. Actually, looking at those old photos has reminded me that there is crocosmia to come soon round the bee hives.

I was trying out a pattern using some left-over yarn. After a while I thought I'd make it into a bag. In the end, though, I decided to make a cushion. It's all wavy on the front and just plain stripes on the back.



The cushion has found a good friend to care for it in the Manor Nursing Home in Rathfriland.

Short and sweet this time. Thanks for your comments; I always appreciate them so much.

18 comments:

  1. love the cushion, so pretty. I'll pass on the bees.not really a fan of honey either?

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  2. I find bees to be incredibly fascinating, it's so nice that you and your husband have some... it's one of my dreams for some day to come! Hope they'll be fine and give you lots of honey! : )
    I absolutely love the cushion, too: did you create the pattern for the wavy part?? Anyway it looks really amazing! xx

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    1. The pattern for the wavy part of the cushion is from a baby blanket.

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  3. Hope that all goes well with the bees! Fantastic cushion, I love the ruffles!! xx

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  4. The cushion is fantastic!
    Marianne x

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  5. It's fantastic to get some honey ourselves and work with bees ... that's great ! Well, your cushion is amazing and the ruffles effect so fab !

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  6. It's great to see your pictures of the bees and nice to see you looking after them. We have a bug hotel for Mason bees, which isn't doing as well as I had hoped as we only have 8 holes filled. I hope it's not in too much sun. We have also seen bees disappearing into holes in the lawn so I guess they are laying eggs there too. Pretty cushion, with wonderful edging. Barbara xx

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  7. The honey must taste fantastic! We could honey from a local beekeeper last year and it was so much better than any store bought! Yumm! Fingers crossed they will all stay!

    Take care
    Anne
    Crochet Between Worlds

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  8. Oh wow Gillian, your bee hives are brilliant, I have just read your post from last year, your honey harvest is amazing. I'm a volunteer gardener at a local stately type home. We were given a talk about their bees and taken to see them, they had swarmed the day before. The bee keeper doesn't harvest the honey, but he bought one of the frames for us to see and taste it, it was absolutely gorgeous and had a lovely hint of mint in it.

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    1. The honey we produce ourselves tastes wonderful. No shop bought one comes close.

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  9. I am a big honey fan but there has been a shortage in Australia...I am very concerned about declining bee populations due to environmental damage. My grandfather used to keep bees for a short time. They are so interesting. We had a swarm settle in our garden for a couple of nights. Although I didn't want them to stay because it was fairly close to the house, it was really fun to watch them all come home in the evening and 'tuck themselves in' for the night. They would snuggle together and be totally silent except for the occasional 'bzzz' when one of them stirred. If only they didn't have stingers!
    I love the three-dimensional wavy pattern on your cushion. What a great stashbuster and a modern colour combo.

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    1. There have been problems here with bee populations too but still not too bad. Certainly not at the stage where we have a shortage of honey.

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  10. That's a nice cushion. The stripes look so neat in the contrasting colors. I can't wait to hear more about your bees and the honey harvest. Beekeeping fascinates me! Hope you have a good weekend, Gillian.

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  11. Beekeeping looks like an awful lot of work - not to mention dangerous. But, I bet the honey is divine!
    Your cushion turned out great and how sweet of you to bless someone in the nursing with it. What a good person you are!

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  12. It must be so rewarding to harvest your own honey! Out of interest, how many jars do you produce? The cushion is lovely especially all the waves on the front!

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    1. Last year we got about 80 pound jars of honey. It looks like we should get more this year - maybe even 100 pounds.

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  13. Love seeing your bee photos, we have slowly been changing our garden since we moved here to make it as scented and bee friendly as possible, there have been more bees so far this year than we've seen before and I love watching them. Your cushion is fab too, love the ruffles. Hx

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  14. I am fascinated by bees. It must be wonderful to eat honey that you've harvested yourself, all the sweeter.
    Amalia
    xo

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