Past Events

Meeting at the Lavender Farm, July 2005

Last Updated (Friday, 15 February 2008 17:28) Written by Julie Peeks Friday, 15 February 2008 17:27

On July 3rd, member of the Southport Beekeepers and friends went to the lavender field and Essential Oil Farm in Lydiate. We went through the two colonies which were on the field. The colonies were different strengths, and had been managed differently. One was on the warm way (combs parallel with the entrance) and one was on the cold way (combs perpendicular to the entrance). In summer, combs should be the cold way, and to reflect this, the colony on the cold way was strong, and the one on the warm way was recovering from swarming.

We then drove to Phytobotanica's site, where we went into the conference centre and received an interesting talk from Dr. Jane Collins about how the essential oils got to from the seed, through growth and to the bottle. We then had tea and cakes and browsed Phytobotanica's shop. We all talked among ourselves and ate. Then we got back into our cars and drove back to the lavender field, at which point the temperature dropped dramatically.

We walked through the lavender field for a time, before starting our picnic, on a conveniently placed covered wooden skip, which served well as a table, but it was a shame that there were no chairs! The temperature continued to drop and the winds increased, yet we persevered at eating the picnic.

I am sure that this meeting was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended, though a number of beekeepers left before the picnic, which was probably wise if they didn't want to get hypothermia! We would like to express our thanks to Dr Jane Collins and Phytobotanica for their hospitality and the talk, and we would like to thank Barbara, Mal, Isabel and Robert for making the meeting happen, and finally we would like to thank all of those who attended for coming.

Phytobotanica's website can be found here.