Science & Nature

elizabethwatsonillustration.com

SCAN ME

PLANT GALLS

Jane Adams, Volunteer, Dorset Wildlife Trust

Robin’s pincushion gall Image: Marcus Wehrle

Whether crushed and turned into ink for manuscripts, or used as a remedy for insomnia, plant galls have been used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years by our ancestors. Nowadays, though, these traditional uses have all but ceased. But galls are still fascinating to discover and easy to see in our countryside, especially during an autumn walk.

Our most common plant galls form when gall wasps lay their eggs under the surface of plant tissue, triggering an abnormal plant growth. Each gall wasp species triggers a different gall to grow and are used to shelter, protect, and provide food for their young. It’s a clever, and some may say devious, evolutionary tactic, but doesn’t seem to harm the plant.

Find an English oak at this time of year and you’ll often find oak marble galls growing from its twigs. As the name suggests, this gall is round and by autumn has turned hard and brown. Because of its high tannin content, some leather tanners still use it to tan leather, and it was especially popular in medieval times for making ink.

Also found on oaks are spangle galls. These round growths found on the underside of oak leaves look like miniature spaceships. Close examination of a handful of fallen leaves is sure to uncover a few. But don’t expect to see the common spangle gall wasp larvae, as they are long gone, having emerged earlier in the summer.

One of the strangest galls found in Dorset is Robin’s pincushion. Found on wild roses, especially dog rose, field rose and sweet briar its pincushion of red hairs is easy to spot. Thought to be named after the English folklore sprite, Robin Goodfellow, every gall is home to several wasp larvae, each with their own self-contained chamber. This is another gall popular with folklore remedies. Not only was it hung around the neck to help whooping cough but one placed under your pillow would, supposedly, lull you to sleep.

Have you seen a plant gall this year? Let Dorset Wildlife Trust know at @dorsetwildlife on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Three Gall Facts:

• There have been over 1,000 different galls recorded in the UK. • If you spot a small hole in a marble gall, you can be sure its lodger has left. • Gall ink was used on the Dead Sea scrolls and by mediaeval monks on manuscripts.

Daniel Dunca/Shutterstock

DRAWN TO THE LIGHT

Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum Gillian Nash

No one could blame the casual observer for mistaking this exquisite moth for a hummingbird as it hovers around flowering plants. The long proboscis enables it to extract nectar from tubular flowers such as valerian, buddleia, petunia, honeysuckle and lilac. With a flight season extending from warm January days right through until December, we may be lucky enough to see the moth as it dashes from flower to flower. Flying most often in sunshine, it is also frequently seen at dusk when attracted to night-scented flowers such as nicotiana. Its speed of flight is remarkable but even more fascinating is a wing beat of eighty times per second, so rapid as to create an audible hum – no surprise then for frequent identity confusion. At rest, the dull brown/grey colour and unique thickset outline give no clue to the beauty of form in flight. A blur of orange underwings and broad abdomen edged with striking black and white markings set it apart from the two similar species that have mainly clear wings.

Each year there is a varying degree of immigration from southern Europe and North Africa. The adult moth is able to survive our winters, in the South West, hibernating in the shelter of outbuildings, lofts and crevices in tree bark.

Larvae may be seen from June to early autumn, hatched from eggs laid singly, usually on bedstraws and madder. In the final stage of growth, its mainly green colour changes to brownish pink when a pupa is formed at ground level among leaf litter. In favourable conditions, there may be two generations in one year.

If able to avoid predation by spiders, birds or bats by its speed of flight, it has been known to live for several weeks.

Some believe a sighting of this beautiful and unusual moth is a good omen – its presence having coincided with significant historic events. This is a good reason to welcome and attract the hummingbird hawk-moth into your garden with plants such as those listed above and include its larval food-plants where possible.

Will Miller of Timber Millers Image: Katharine Davies

REFUEL

Charlotte Miller, Timber Millers

So you’re thinking about an alternative to gas or oil-fired central heating? With the current state of energy pricing going through the roof, you can hardly be blamed. Or perhaps you are looking from a more ecological point of view? There is a lot of information out there for and against burning wood to heat a space, so if you’re still undecided it’s hardly surprising. Wood as fuel has gone from being reported as carbon neutral, a great alternative to fossil fuels, to just as bad as gas, oil and coal. So what are we to believe?

It is a fact that burning wood creates carbon dioxide, a chemical that is essential to us and the planet as it helps to retain heat close to the surface of the earth instead of letting it be released out into space. Without CO2 our seas would be frozen solid, but an excessive increase in the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere is causing the temperature of our earth to increase above levels that we are comfortable with. Not so good. So there’s no denying that burning wood can be an issue, but if it’s done properly, taking responsibility for where the logs are sourced and how they are seasoned and stored, the environmental impact can be minimised.

When it comes to buying firewood, you have a responsibility to source logs that are dry. Ideally, logs need to have a moisture content of 20% or under, something your provider will be able to tell you. Currently, log suppliers all over the country are being asked to become Woodsure Certified under Ready To Burn – a scheme developed to regulate the quality of logs sold commercially, ensuring moisture content and sustainability. A sustainable source means a woodland that is managed, making sure there are plenty of trees left and re-planted that would love to use up the carbon that you are creating by burning your logs, to help them grow big and strong, creating a carbon cycle. Hence burning wood

being labelled carbon neutral.

Burning wet logs will lead to a very disappointing fire with an increase in smoke, particle emissions and very little heat. It will also blacken up your glass if you are using a log burner, and cause a buildup of soot in your chimney. The dryer the log you use, the more efficient your fire will be.

How you store your logs is also very important. The nature of wood means that as well as losing moisture, it can also increase its moisture content if your logs are not stored properly. Always make sure your log pile has some protection from the elements along with good airflow – this will prevent logs from becoming mouldy.

Did you know that the remnants of your wood fire could also be useful? Ash from wood-burning stoves, wood fires and bonfires can be a useful additive to the compost heap, or can be applied to fallow ground and dug in. It can be a natural source of potassium and other trace elements. It also has a liming effect, meaning wood ash can remedy excessively acidic soil.

If the pull of a warming fire this winter is becoming stronger, the wood burner is the most efficient way to heat your home, retaining and radiating heat from its metal casing, and using far less fuel than an open fire. The wood burner itself has gone through many a metamorphosis over the years, becoming very popular during the 1970s’ energy crisis. Unfortunately, the stoves then were basic, inefficient, and a fire hazard due to the buildup of creosote caused by burning wet wood.

In the 1980s the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stepped in to regulate the wood stove industry, and in an effort to lessen our impact on the environment, they set emissions limits at 7.5 grams per hour for wood stoves, requiring manufacturers to improve their designs.

Today we see a log burner that has been through a wealth of technological design improvements. EPA-certified stoves have exceptionally low emissions, as little as 1-2 grams of particulate per hour. The stoves are designed to enable complete combustion, meaning that there is plenty of oxygen circulation for the fire to burn at higher temperatures, burning off the combustible gas, therefore creating less smoke, ash and creosote build-up.

On 1st January 2022, an Ecodesign regulation for solid fuel space heating came into force. All stoves manufactured for sale must comply with the efficiency and emissions levels set out within Ecodesign. This means that modern stoves are more efficient and less polluting than ever before, offering a very low carbon, sustainable and renewable way to heat your home.

In conclusion, when you responsibly source your logs, using wood for fuel is a sound environmental choice. It is plentiful, especially when taken from managed or coppiced woodlands, and its price is much more stable than gas and oil. A key aspect of burning wood is the low-carbon nature of the wood itself. Trees remove as much CO2 during their lives as they produce being burnt in a wood-burning stove. A fallen tree left to decompose in the forest will produce more CO2 than when it is burnt in an Ecodesign-compliant stove or fireplace.

Also, with all this in consideration, I must say there aren’t many things more enticing than curling up in front of a real fire on a cold night.

timbermillers.co.uk

LEIGH CLIMATE GROUP presents Leigh Talks!

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

“Can we eat our way out of this mess?”

Hugh talks about how our food choices shape our planet, our future and ourselves

Thursday 13th October, 7.45pm. Leigh Village Hall

Doors open 7.30pm • Bar

Tickets £5 available from The Little Leigh Store (cash only) www.littleleighstore.co.uk

DO BEES HAVE TEETH?

Paula Carnell, Beekeeping Consultant, Writer and Speaker

Ipondered this whilst in Turkey for a short holiday and large Apimondia Bee Conference. On the day of travelling out, one of my rear upper molars started to niggle, which developed into a full-blown abscess by day 3. As you can imagine I am a natural manager of my teeth and gums, despite having gum issues, possibly related to my Ehlers Danlos years, and grand middle age.

I was in Turkey to visit beekeepers, taste honey and speak at Apimondia, and by day 5 I was unable to eat or chew anything other than yogurt and honey! With hourly spritzing of my own propolis tincture, I was thinking about bees, and how lucky they were not to have teeth problems. Most of us think nothing of our teeth until they give us cause to grieve over them. I was in a lot of pain, and Mr C wondered if we should get me to a hospital, off the remote organic island where only we spoke English. He was worried about me developing sepsis and worse. It takes some courage to treat naturally and fully embrace pain and discomfort.

I had been looking into my gum health and the connections between gums and the rest of our bodies. I am very blessed to have an holistic dentist, who via WhatsApp advised me to rub bicarbonate of soda on the sore parts. This was an excellent tip and gave almost immediate relief. I now have added this to my travel survival pack. I was able to eat more food and speak at Apimondia and had an appointment with my dentist on my return, so all is now well.

So bees’ teeth… they have many tasks that need to be undertaken with collecting and digesting food so their mouthparts extract nectar from flowers, collect water, feed larval bees, ingest pollen grains, manipulate wax in comb-building, clean cells and remove debris. Their main chewing device is the ‘mandibles’ which can chew and grasp items. They also have maxillae which are fused with the labium (lower lip) forming a proboscis which is the long hairy tongue which draws up liquids and is active in the process of prophylaxis where bees exchange fluids with each other. The mandible is ridged and each surface slides past the other. Coated in tiny hairs with a neuron, they are thought to register the contact between each mandible. These hairs and the edges of the mandibles get worn out in older bees, very much like humans, making the mechanics of chewing harder. The neuron would also indicate that they may even feel pain. Looking into the biology of bees is fascinating and the mouth parts are certainly far from simple as the various mechanical processes and connections between mouth and hypopharyngeal glands (which secrete royal jelly) are all working together. The royal jelly was a subject of many lectures and conversations as I met with and listened to some of the Apitherapists at the conference. Apitherapy is using bee products as medicine and has a several thousand-year history around the globe.

I attended many of the lectures during Apimondia and spent much time connecting with beekeepers, honey producers and beekeeping equipment inventors and manufacturers. There was plenty to distract from toothache. I learned how bee venom can be extracted from bees using an electrical device attached to a hive which gently stimulates the release of venom into a collection device. The venom is then used for bee sting therapy for people who have become seriously allergic to bee stings, as well as many other healing and medicinal products. One such was a face cream containing bee venom to help plump out skin, a kind of ‘bee-tox’! The Turkish honey was bountiful. The island we had stayed on was full of organic agriculture and the mountainsides were covered in pine forests and wild thyme. This was the main source of Gokceada’s honey. Some valleys contained wildflowers and olive groves, so that also provided a tasty blend of honeys. We were lucky to visit the government’s protected pine forests outside Istanbul where many beekeepers kept their apiaries. A tour with many of the attendees from around the world to Apimondia brought groups of 50 beekeepers to these apiaries. I was astonished that these Anatolian bees were so gentle and calm. I’d seen beekeepers with their own bees in Gokceada, handling bees with little more than shorts on. I was astonished that the bees in these forests were equally gentle, allowing many of us strangers to lift a frame from the hive and get close without being attacked. We were able to see queen-rearing operations, pollen collection and of course many hives that produced Turkey’s highly prized pine tree honey. Pine trees are known for their medicinal properties, and this translates into the dark syrupy honey which tastes of molasses, and perhaps a hint of pine Radox!

Meeting beekeepers from around the world raised discussions about different honeybee species. Thinking of my teeth, it was natural for the ‘stingless bees’ to be of interest. I’d learned that they don’t sting, however, they do bite! Their honey is found across South America and Asia from these tiny bees, often kept in coconut shell hives. What I found particularly interesting is that their honey has been used as medicine for eyes for thousands of years. Guess where they bite you if they feel under threat? The eye sockets and eye brows! This reminds me of how everything is connected, and so my tooth pain with meridians to my digestive system, liver and kidneys, which I have since found need attention. I will be speaking more about how bees connect everything during my TEDx talk in Frome on 9th October – hope to see you there!

paulacarnell.com

___________________________________________ Sunday 9th October 2pm-6pm TEDx Frome The Merlin Theatre, Frome, BA11 2HG TEDxFrome celebrates local ‘ideas worth spreading’. Ten speakers will be sharing their ideas in the theme of ‘I am because we are’ – climate, words, women’s health, life and death, personal development, culture, food, the natural world, our homes and more. Tickets £20 via merlintheatre.co.uk

CARBON NEUTRAL - WASTE WOOD BRIQUETTES

Our briquettes are made from kiln-dried timber offcuts and wood shavings produced in our workshop. The offcuts are shredded and mixed with the shavings then highly compressed into briquettes of varying lengths, using only the naturally occurring resins inside the timber to hold them together. The moisture content is 10 – 15%. MADE FROM WASTE TIMBER • CARBON NEUTRAL SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE • HIGH HEAT OUTPUT LOW ASH RESIDUE • CLEAN TO USE REDUCED USE OF FOSSIL FUEL

Sold in 12.5KG bags (minimum contents) 1 Bag £5.00 10 Bags £45.00 Inc. VAT

Contact us prior to collection of multiple bags

The Joinery Works, Alweston Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5HS Tel: 01963 23219 Fax: 01963 23053 Email: info@fcuffandsons.co.uk

www.fcuffandsons.co.uk

DESIGNERS AND MAKERS OF BEAUTIFUL FINE BESPOKE JOINERY SINCE 1897