The Woodlands.co.uk Blog - August 2010
Bees, again………
Bees can ‘tell’ each other where to find food – nectar and pollen. Karl von Frisch worked out the meaning or code of this language – the waggle dance; he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his efforts (e.g. The sun as compass in the life of bees.). Through this dance within the hive, a bee can indicate to its fellow workers information about the direction, distance and ‘quality’ of food on offer. Read more…
Finding and encouraging reptiles in woodlands
Reptiles and woodland
The first time I came across a Grass Snake in our newly bought wood I almost trod on it, it was a real surprise and I was so lost in my own thoughts it really startled me. I had not thought the woodland provided a very suitable habitat for reptiles and in many respects, it didn’t. Read more…
Working for biodiversity
Gatwick Greenspace Partnership, now part of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, has leased Lower Orlton’s Copse*, near Rusper, on an initial three year agreement with the aim of improving the biodiversity in the wood, through a process of selective thinning and pollarding, and using the site for our Forest Schools project. Read more…
Threats to the Honeybee
At the start of the twentieth century, it has been estimated that there were about one million beehives in the U.K. Now the number is about 280,000; there has also been a significant decline in the number of beekeepers. Read more…
Woodland pedestrian gates (2)
Now to hang the gate.
Put the top piece of furniture on the gate. We will leave the bottom one for now as this enables us to reverse the hinges on the gate and prevent it being carried off by anyone. Now decide how high you want the gate off the ground. Read more…
Woodland Pedestrian Gates (Part 1)
Pedestrian gates look good, add focus and can provide ease of access into your wood or into a specific area – straddling barbed wire fences is not recommended. Read more…
Roadside works and traffic control
Roadside work and traffic control
Very occasionally you might need to carry out roadside tree work, which requires some form of traffic control. Typically this work would be the felling or pruning of trees which overhang the carriageway and which are, or are likely to become, a hazard to road users. Read more…
Sitka Spruce Surprises
About 70% of Britain’s commercial tree plantations are Sitka Spruce. The Forestry Commission have been planting sitka since as far back as the 1930s both because it is able to survive in inhospitable peaty conditions and because sitka grows fast and produces good quality timber. Botanically called Picea sitchensis, sitka spruce is most easily identified by the “three p’s”: it has a pointed crown, its leaves (needles) are on pegs and it has pendant cones. Read more…