Thursday 12/2/26 A swan was in the river beside the bank when we arrived. The first job was freeing the seized outer door latch on the wagon, Eddie sprayed it with WD40 and hammered it to loosen it. We filled the bird feeders and saw great tits and blue tits eating peanuts again.
The bee box with viewing panels we made would not open, as the wood has expanded in the wet weather, so we took it back for repair. We took the box apart and replaced the laminate flooring strip in the top with thin hardboard, this allows the cores to be pulled out for viewing but still prevents them dropping out.
Bees lay male eggs at the front of the slots which hatch first and leave the nest, female eggs at the rear hibernate in the box for 11 months before hatching. We could see the empty space where males had left, and the female cells are still occupied.
We put extra screws in the stand as two legs were loose, then staked the box and stand down in the meadow. We used mole hill soil to top up the tray on top, when it rains this will turn to mud, which bees use to plug the cells.
Abbie was doing the circular walk with Hector, her red Labrador, they visited us on the way back. Hector found a large branch and ball which he brought with him, so we threw them for him to fetch. They then walked back along the river. Eddie and I had hot sausage rolls for lunch in the wagon by the fire.
In the afternoon we tidied the timber store, we took the wood out and put all the short pieces both sides on the top shelves, these can be accessed from the middle door. We re-arranged the long lengths of wood on the lower shelves.
Some of the wood was wet where the roof leaked, so I got plastic roofing sheets from behind the shed and put them on top of the roof as a temporary repair.
We put broken and mis-shaped pallet wood aside for kindling, I chopped it into lengths and Eddie split it with an axe, this has topped up our kindling tub in the wagon. The last job was putting loose logs into the new logstore which is now full.
Graham Bartlett
Interactive Plan Activity Previous Projects Workers Review 2025
Solitary Bee Box
We made our solitary bee box in November 2024, it has Perspex covering slots in the wood so we can watch progress of the eggs and larvae. There is a mud tray on top which bees use to line the slots and seal between each egg cell, they put a final mud plug at the end of the slot.
We noticed the box was being used on 15/5/25 when we saw some slot ends sealed up, we pulled out the cores and saw the slots filled with eggs and pollen.
Female Solitary bees lay an egg with a supply of pollen and nectar in each cell for the larvae to feed on when it hatches. Bees seal each cell with a mud plug in between.
Male eggs are laid towards the front of the slot so they emerge first and are ready to mate the following year.
Female eggs hatch into larvae and eat the pollen, then hibernate for around 11 months in the nest through summer and winter. The following spring, the larvae pupate, turn into adult bees and emerge from their nest.
I made a similar box for my garden which was also partially used.
We will keep watch on the nest box at the mill and keep this page updated with progress.
In late 2025 we noticed the male eggs in the front part of the slots have hatched and left the box, female eggs are still in the back of the slots.
Graham Bartlett
The Little Egret is white with a black beak and yellow feet, its smaller than the Great White Egret which is the size of a Heron. Back to Wildlife
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The Great White Egret is the same size as a Heron and has a yellow beak and black feet. See also Little Egret. Back to Wildlife
