At last, spring has sprung and Coopers Farm feels very full of new life and possibility. In the past couple of years we have dug out lots of ‘ghost ponds’. Ponds identified on old maps that were lost as part of the agricultural intensification that occurred in the 1950s. Many were filled in with the stumps, roots and trunks of hedges that were pulled out to make way for bigger fields that could then be cultivated by the powerful tractors that were replacing the horse.
By digging out these old ponds the hope is that there will still be original seed banks that will regenerate now rare flora and fauna. That will hopefully come in the years ahead but what has already happened is an explosion of frog spawn. I’ve never seen so much and in these troubled times it is strangely life affirming to see nature just getting on with what nature does best. Frog spawn is laid in clumps in shallower water and is more resistant to frost so comes first. Next comes toad spawn which is laid in strings, usually wrapped around vegetation and laid in slightly deeper

water and then it’s the turn of the newts, who lay eggs individually and wrap them up in submerged plant leaves. So far I’ve only spotted the frog spawn but here’s hoping for all three.

Frog spawn is laid in clumps in shallower Ad is more resistant to frost so comes first. Next comes toad spawn which is laid in strings, usually wrapped around vegetation and laid in slightly deeper water and then it’s the turn of the newts, who lay eggs individually and wrap them up in submerged plant leave

The bees also know it’s spring. In a typical hive, a few thousand bees overwinter by feeding themselves and their queen on the honey collected by the far bigger colony present in the summer. So now the queen is busy laying eggs to get numbers back up again for the flower filled summer months. A queen bee in her prime – they usually last about three years – can lay a staggering 2,000 eggs a day but even so it takes quite a while to get numbers back up to about 50,000 bees that makes a strong colony. After three days the eggs hatch into larvae and after another six they become pupae which hatch out into bees after another twelve days. When they are larvae they need to be fed on a high protein diet which the bees source from pollen. A bee will forage for pollen up to eight miles and bring it back in baskets on its back legs made by tightly interwoven hairs. No shaving for these girls! So until I can open up the hives to check all is going well – this happens when you can go outside in a T-shirt and usually coincides with the flowering

redcurrant coming into bloom – you can observe the comings and goings at the hive entrance to check all is well. Lots of bees going in with full baskets suggests all is well.The hens can’t really match queen bees but, joy of joy, my rather ancient girls have at last decided to lay and we are back enjoying our own – albeit limited – supply of eggs. This is exciting as we haven’t had an egg from them since August and with luck we should now be kept well supplied through the summer. Undoubtedly however one of them might decide to go broody and sit tight on a clutch of eggs but if you had read my column a couple of months ago you’ll know that the success of this endeavour will rather depend on Phil the cockerel. As I explained, he’s also very old and a little arthritic and I’m not sure he has it in him to chase them, pin them to the ground and do the necessary. I’m hoping for a young replacement, but until then we’ll just have to hope as (apart from the frog spawn and the lambs) nothing heralds spring more than a clutch of newly hatched chicks. Fingers crossed.