Two Acres

Sad to hear that Ben but sometimes there no alternative. The last thing I wanted to do was kill mine but we couldn't get them out of the house any other way and they couldn't stay. The pest people told me that if the bees had stayed then the honey could attract rats. It was a disapointing outcome, especially as I have a beekeeper living in the village. He looked, nothing to be done. Sometimes thats how it goes.

Thats interesting - the pest control people are lying on their website then

Its a like from me Steve Makes me wonder what happened to Camerons promise to make the coalition the, 'greenest government ever'. Now he seems more interested in fracking than the environment to me. That Tory tree logo really is cheeky I think

Yes mate, I did Thatcher Was Warned 'Big Bang' Would Go Bad

Just think what would happen if we elected a loony right-wing government that deregulated the banks allowing them to lend money to subprime borrowers with no hope of ever paying it back....that could bring down the whole global economy....

I think he may very well fail Mick - however I do think that what hes trying to do in changing the game is worthwhile. Personally I don't think that our political system is functioning effectively and a shake up is just what it needs.

Its an attempt to change the way politics is conducted in this country and engage all those voters who are disillusioned with the status quo. Authenticity has been a major thread thats flowed through the advertising industry for years now (there was a marked change after the 2008 crash). For many Consumers (and maybe voters) authenticity is key.

Thats what the Tories want you to think. Dave is just a facade, Jeremy is, at least, authentic.

Well said Steve - I completely agree

Hello Ben, to try to clarify my statement I've remembered who I used, it was a company called Abate. They charged me £100. Heres what the say about honey bess on their website: Honey Bees The honey bee is the only bee in this country that swarms and this is usually from mid April until early August with May and June being the months with the greatest activity. A bee swarm will only leave a nest in bright sunny weather and when there is little wind. 'A swarm, when settled, will hang in one mass from the branches of a tree or shrub, garden furniture, hedges, walls of buildings or inside chimneys. Bee swarms that settle in chimneys may after a couple of days start to build a nest. The nest will survive until the winter, but due to lack of food or disease, may die before the following spring. If a bee swarm is easily accessible then Abate can appoint a Bee Keeper who may be contacted to collect the swarm to establish a new colony. It is not recommended that the householder attempt to treat a bee swarm or nest. Honey Bees are not considered as pests and are very beneficial to the environment. Abate does its utmost to avoid destroying any bees nests and will only do so as a last resort. Due to legislation, costs to destroy a bees nest can be very expensive.'

I had a honey bee nest in my house. They were getting in under a facia board. I had a private pest control company come out and take a look (the council don't do it any more). He told me that honey bees have legal protection but as I had young children and the bees were a danger to them then he could destroy the nest. Unfortunately there was no other solution (we did consult a local beekeeper). Hope thats helpful.

I don't think Corbyn's team is going to have a 'captain'. He's going to be a part of a team more than a 'leader'. It could be a clever strategy as the Tory press will simply want to destroy any Labour leader through personal attacks. If Corbyn refuses to play that game then language such as 'quaking in their boots' and analogys such as the one you use won't be applicable, interesting.

Well it would seem that he intends to take a collectivist approach instaed of an individualist one. I guess that would make it pretty uncomfortable for the Torys's, its not what they do.

Corbyns changed the game Mick, he doesn't want to play cricket anymore.

Cameron did say that he had Alex Salmond's head "bagged, stuffed and mounted on my wall".

Completely agree with you Felix, well said

You're all wrong :thumbdown:

I agree Wood wasp. It seems clear that the electorate are tired of politicians who are obsessed with power and PR. A return to conviction politics would be most welcome. If Corbyn's election provokes a renewed engagement with politics, especially amongst the younger generation, then that could very well be a good thing.

Hello Neil, I bought a Husky 135 a few months ago and got myself on a Lantra course. I'm working in my own woodland so Cs30/31 is not necessary. It cost me £215 and was well worth every penny. It was actually the first two days of the five day 30/31. I learnt much, much more than I imagined and really enjoyed it. You can learn a lot online as Eddy has said, but in my view learning by doing is way better. You meet some good people too. The only regret I have is that I bought the saw online, so now its a little tricky if I want to take it into my local dealer. I reckon a few extra quid to the dealer would've veen a better idea in the long run. I hope it goes well for you

Many thanks for this Kevin I haven't seen it before but I will be reading it and forwarding it to the PC. A good dose of common sense is exactly whats required IMHO. It seems to me that the PC have a complete lack of interest in the trees in the village. To me thats suprising and disapointing. The William Blake quote that David Humphries uses as the footer to his posts on Arbtalk comes to mind - except that the PC don't even seem to see the tree even as a 'green thing that stands in the way'. In fact I think they are totally indifferent to it; why else have it as the last item on the agenda and give no time to discussing it? What I would very much like to see is a PC that conducts appropriate research, enables informed discussions, listens to all interested parties, and takes appropriate considered decisions. Much of the meeting the other night was taken up discussing how ineffectual PC's in Breckland are in general and how impotent ours is in particular. Apparently they make decisions that are routinely overturned further up the local government ladder. Mostly they seem concerned with their inability to affect the planning process and they wonder why 'big business' can always get its way (that'll be the brown envelopes, doh). By their own admission they are not an effective body. The meeting was like a Monty Python sketch. It was farcical. They didn't know they needed to consult with the tree officer before they can fell the tree. In fact they didn't know that Breckland has a tree officer. Two memebers of the public, myself included, pointed that out and they duly made a note of it. So we have two layers of local government taht either don't know of each others existence or won't talk to each other (I had a response from the tree officer ot my email to say that he noted my concerns but wouldn't do anything until the PC put in a 511 notice, I think its a 511 from memory?) Unbelieveable. If I ran my business like that I wouldn't have a business.

I forgot to mention that at the parish council meeting we learned that the tree surgeon who surveyed the tree has given it a projected 10 year lifespan if its 'pruned'. The chair of the PC told the meeting, then said that would mean a raise to the parish precept, then seemed to assume that no one would want to pay and moved on before anyone had a chance to have a say, hey-ho. I've taken some pictures of the tree today. here you go:

Thanks you Kveldssanger - I see

Yes it is worth saying, thank you David. Am I correct to assume that Cameraria ohridella doesn't unduly affect the health of the tree?

Thanks for that Cae I will attempt to get some photos of the trunk and unions when work and weather allows. Hopefully you can all offer a more informed opinion of whether the tree needs felling or suggest an alternative when you see those.

The local paper have published a feature about the tree Horse chestnut tree planted for Silver Jubilee faces axe in record year of reign - News - Eastern Daily Press