That's s great news. Thanks for everyone's efforts - and apologies for
setting us off on a 'wild bee chase' .
Here's hoping that the colony can be extracted in a survivable state
All the best,
Mick
On 23 Aug 2018 10:38, "Will H" <whanrott@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
To my great surprise I've just heard back from the Education Officer at
BBOWT. The bees are in an unsafe tree in the Sutton Courtenay Education
Centre. The tree is scheduled to be felled during the winter.
I'm really impressed that the group tracked them down given the fragmented
information.
I'm going there this afternoon to see the site and to establish where in
the nest is in the tree. I'll take a camera and share the images later
today.
Will
On 10/08/18 11:18, Will H wrote:
http://www.bbowt.org.uk/sutton-courtenay-environmental-education-centre
https://goo.gl/maps/6W6FCqRvDqB2
I still don't know whether anyone from this group wants to do an
extraction, nor whether we could successfully do it before winter. That
notwithstanding, I phoned BBOWT and I'm hoping for a call back from one of
their team.
Will
On 10/08/18 10:51, Andrew Bax (Redacted sender andrew.bax for DMARC) wrote:
That’s probably it! There is a nature reserve in Sutton Courtenay, soon to
be replaced by two vast warehouses. Andrew
*From:* oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [
mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ;<oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] *On
Behalf Of *Michael King
*Sent:* 10 August 2018 10:40
*To:* oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [oxnatbees] Re: Feral bees in Didcot
Progress - I think !
My wife, Kathryn, has done some research on the options, and based on what
we know, she is fairly convinced that the location for the feral bees
is *Sutton
Courtenay Environmental Education Centre*, run by the local Wildlife Trust.
Hope that helps.
Have a great weekend,
Mick
On Fri, 10 Aug 2018, 09:24 Michael King, <kingmichael845@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have quizzed my wife, who also overheard the conversation, to see whether
she can remember anything else that might help identify the site
She is certain the woman worked in the 'education centre' there, and said
the tree was going to be felled because they get lots of school parties
visiting.
So, one more piece in the jigsaw - we are looking for a country park with
an education centre!
Apologies again that this is all so opaque.
Happy bee hunting
Mick
On Fri, 10 Aug 2018, 09:01 Gareth John, <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
How about Mobray Fields in Didcot:
https://earthtrust.org.uk/visit-us/mowbrey-fields/ ;?
Gareth
On 10 Aug 2018, at 06:05, Will H <whanrott@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
this is rather a wild goose chase, but let us see whether the internet can
help. I found these possible country parks:
- Stonor is about 20 miles from Didcot towards Wycombe
https://www.stonor.com/discover/park-gardens/
- Basildon Park is about 12 miles from Didcot near Pangbourne
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/basildon-park/features/parkland-at-basildon-park
- Greys court is about 17 miles from Didcot near Henley
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greys-court/activities
- Shotover is also nearby
I couldn't find any country parks *in* Didcot or any nearer than 10 miles
from it. Perhaps someone can do better.
Will
On 09/08/18 22:05, Michael King wrote:
Regrettably I don't have any more details.
She was definitely associated with the park, rather than just an
interested member of the public.
I don't know the area, but I assume that there can't be many options for
country parks around Didcot? So, I thought it might perhaps be worth a
couple of phone calls to the likely candidates if anyone is interested in
trying to extract the bees - with or without a piece of tree trunk!
Good luck,
Mick
On Thu, 9 Aug 2018, 19:35 Oxnatbees, <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well.. there are members of the group who still have no bees after swarm
season:
- Sam Acton (10 miles from Didcot)
- Liz Robinson (13 miles from Didcot)
- Sarah Pulvertaft (25 miles from Didcot)
- (Anyone else?)
Assuming someone wants them, we'd need to know more about the situation.
For example if they are 30 feet up, or behind a really thick wall of wood,
they may be too challenging to cut out. It's not clear whom to contact, do
you have other details of the woman / country park?
Paul
On 9 August 2018 at 17:14, Michael King <kingmichael845@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi,
I was helping out on the BBKA stand at Countryfile Live at Blenheim last
weekend, and overheard a conversation that might be of interest if anyone
is in the Didcot area.
In summary, a woman from a country park in Didcot was asking for advice
about a colony of wild/feral bees that are under threat at the site.
She said that the colony has been living in a hollow tree there for a long
time - I think over a decade. However, the tree is scheduled to be cut down
and she was keen to see what could be done to save the bees.
I don't think she got much joy in response to her query, so my guess is the
situation is still unresolved.
Sorry the details are a bit sketchy, I was trying to show someone how to
make a skep, so only overheard fragments of the dialogue!
Hopefully it will mean something if you know the area? And I thought I
would pass it on, in case anyone was interested in salvaging what sounds
like a hardy and we'll adapted feral colony.
Best regards
Mick King
