:00:29. > :00:33.Landward, celebrating summer in the Scottish countryside. In a moment,
:00:33. > :00:36.Sarah will be meeting an inventor behind a new device that could help
:00:36. > :00:41.farmers and gardeners in the battle against slugs and snails. But first,
:00:41. > :00:48.here is what else is coming up on the programme. We meet the
:00:48. > :00:52.genetically pure native dark bees. We take a very young brood out from
:00:52. > :00:56.one hive and we put it Onto a foster home. The Royal Botanic Gardens,
:00:56. > :01:03.Edinburgh, lead the global project to save conifers. China, Bosnia,
:01:03. > :01:09.Kazakhstan, so it's a really cosmopolitan connection. I go in
:01:09. > :01:17.search of the perfect sunset. It is now 9:15pm and Callum may well get a
:01:17. > :01:21.really bonny photograph. Gardeners and fruit and veg farmers
:01:21. > :01:24.face a constant battle to keep slugs and snails off their crops. Yes,
:01:24. > :01:34.there are lots of chemicals on the market but now a Scottish inventor
:01:34. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :01:39.has come up with a barrier system to keep molluscs away from their crops.
:01:39. > :01:42.They say necessity is the mother of invention and that rings true for
:01:42. > :01:52.Mike Ingles, who was simply sick of his plants being eaten by snails and
:01:52. > :01:54.
:01:54. > :01:57.slugs. I looked around in the marketplace. Obviously, I knew about
:01:57. > :02:07.pellets. I decided against them because I knew that they contained a
:02:07. > :02:07.
:02:07. > :02:10.toxin. Mostly metaldehyde. Not every gardener wants to use that? I think
:02:10. > :02:17.now, people are becoming more and more aware of the environment and
:02:17. > :02:22.what we are doing to it. It sounds to me that you were keen to find an
:02:22. > :02:25.alternative? Indeed, it all started in my potting shed over there. From
:02:25. > :02:30.the initial bits of cardboard and bits of string etc, it has taken ten
:02:30. > :02:36.years to now eventually get the product to the market. How does it
:02:36. > :02:43.work? Basically, it is designed to stop slugs and snails getting in to
:02:43. > :02:47.a protected area. The kit comes in two sections. One is a ground insert
:02:47. > :02:53.and the second is a comb element. The secret of the design and the
:02:53. > :03:01.patent is that the slug and snail cannot get over this comb system.
:03:01. > :03:04.Why can they not cross this combed bit? It is a very good question. The
:03:04. > :03:07.experiments seemed to prove that because of the nature and the design
:03:07. > :03:15.of the comb, eventually, they seemed to tire of the fact that they were
:03:15. > :03:18.having to overcome another obstacle. We then saw was that they tended to
:03:18. > :03:23.follow one of the grooves onto the end and eventually they would give
:03:23. > :03:27.up and go back down again. Of course, the barrier is indeed turned
:03:27. > :03:35.that way. There is an element of gravity attached to this because the
:03:35. > :03:38.snail or slug will be upside down. Basically, they just give up.
:03:38. > :03:45.next stop is Montrose to meet Andy Evans, the man from the agricultural
:03:45. > :03:49.college who initially tested it. did some laboratory experiments
:03:49. > :03:53.where we set up a barrier and cameras in the dark so we could see
:03:53. > :03:56.how the slugs and snails behaved. Were they climbing up and over the
:03:56. > :04:00.barrier, or not? Based on the positive results from that, we then
:04:00. > :04:04.set up a field trial where we had 12 of these metal barriers in a field
:04:04. > :04:11.planted with lettuce. We were just comparing the damage to lettuce in
:04:11. > :04:21.the barrier compared to outside the barrier. What results did you have?
:04:21. > :04:22.
:04:22. > :04:25.On average, 80 to 85% reduction in flood damage. I'm also here to meet
:04:25. > :04:31.Mark Clark from Grampian Growers, a man who knows first-hand the
:04:31. > :04:36.financial cost of slug and snail damage to the industry. If we didn't
:04:36. > :04:39.apply slug pellets, the effect would be massive. Again, it is very
:04:39. > :04:43.variety specific. Now the maris paper is particularly prone and you
:04:43. > :04:47.could lose 100% of the crop if you did not treat it in the proper
:04:47. > :04:51.fashion. Can you give us an indication of how much it costs your
:04:51. > :04:54.growers to apply slug pellets every year? On a severe situation, you
:04:54. > :05:01.could be somewhere between �1000 and �2000 for this field, roughly 17
:05:01. > :05:11.hectares, for the season. What problems can arise from using
:05:11. > :05:13.pesticides, how much damage can they do? If you think about slug pellets,
:05:13. > :05:19.there is always the potential for non-target organisms eating the
:05:19. > :05:24.pellets, whether it is birds, voles, mice etc. There are issues with some
:05:24. > :05:34.of the pellets. These metaldehyde pellets which can end up drinking
:05:34. > :05:34.
:05:34. > :05:37.water. What is your impression of the system? If an organic grower is
:05:37. > :05:40.growing an expensive crop which is particularly prone to being damaged
:05:40. > :05:50.by slugs and for example, something like asparagus, if you can grow that
:05:50. > :05:53.within a barrier system, you can almost have season long protection.
:05:53. > :05:56.When slugs invade your garden, we will do our best to keep them out
:05:56. > :06:05.but doing that without poisoning your garden cannot be a bad thing.
:06:05. > :06:10.So this is one we will watch with interest. I am already working on
:06:10. > :06:13.new designs. We are looking at irrigation which could be added to
:06:13. > :06:23.the system. That is probably more applicable in the commercial
:06:23. > :06:25.
:06:25. > :06:27.environment, but yes, there are lots of other ideas in the pipeline.
:06:28. > :06:32.Over the past two weeks, BBC Scotland weather presenter Judith
:06:32. > :06:35.Ralston has met a couple of amateur weather enthusiasts. In the final
:06:35. > :06:45.part of a series, she meets an IT professional who loves passing on
:06:45. > :06:54.
:06:54. > :06:59.his passion for weather to schoolchildren.
:06:59. > :07:01.I am here in Fife on this beautiful day to meet a man who was brought up
:07:01. > :07:11.in the tropics of Australia, who subsequently moved back to Scotland
:07:11. > :07:14.
:07:14. > :07:18.and set up his own mobile weather station. The weather in the tropics,
:07:18. > :07:21.what was it actually like? The wet season storms, some of the most
:07:21. > :07:25.phenomenal lightning I have witnessed in my life. I guess that
:07:25. > :07:30.was what got me interested in weather from a very young age.
:07:30. > :07:33.does it compare to what we have in Scotland? Over here, we noticed
:07:33. > :07:36.straightaway the changeability of the weather, it can change at the
:07:36. > :07:40.drop of a hat. You wake up in the morning, it's sunshine and by the
:07:40. > :07:43.afternoon, it's chucking down hailstones! Since you have returned
:07:43. > :07:48.to Scotland, what have you done to utilise that passion for weather
:07:48. > :07:51.that you have? My passion inspired me to install a weather station at
:07:51. > :08:01.my house. Being an IT professional by trade, of course, I had to put it
:08:01. > :08:08.on the internet. I built a website. This is live a live dashboard and
:08:08. > :08:11.gives updates every 15 seconds with live readings. What is this image?
:08:11. > :08:16.This is a time lapse video so this gets produced at the end of each
:08:16. > :08:19.day, so this is yesterday's time lapse video. In addition to the
:08:19. > :08:28.weather station I've got set up at home, I built a weather station into
:08:28. > :08:34.a vehicle. This is the mobile weather lab. I'll open the back up
:08:34. > :08:38.so you can have a look at the brains of the operation. It provides a live
:08:38. > :08:41.weather information service for big outdoor events. I also do a lot of
:08:41. > :08:48.education work as well so I have visited schools and quite a few
:08:48. > :08:52.science festivals over the years as well. Today I am going to be
:08:52. > :09:00.forecasting for Friday, 26 April. Graham is also going to do exactly
:09:00. > :09:03.the same and we are going to compare notes. My forecast is a bright start
:09:03. > :09:06.to the day with maybe one or two showers but those showers will
:09:06. > :09:08.become heavier in the afternoon. Temperatures up to nine or ten
:09:08. > :09:15.degrees and winds starting West south-westerly veering to
:09:15. > :09:18.north-westerly by the afternoon. Here's what I have come up with. We
:09:18. > :09:21.do have this weather front sinking southwards across the country and
:09:21. > :09:24.it's going to generate quite a number of showers as the day
:09:24. > :09:27.progresses. Winds from the West initially and on the light side but
:09:27. > :09:34.they will swing into the Northwest later which will bring colder air
:09:34. > :09:39.across Scotland. We should be lucky and see 11 degrees Celsius. Hi
:09:39. > :09:46.Graham, here are the results. Fantastic, I've been looking forward
:09:46. > :09:51.to this moment of truth. Nervous?A little bit. A dry, cold, sunny spot.
:09:51. > :09:58.Showers developing in the course of the day. Highs of ten or 11 Celsius.
:09:58. > :10:01.That sounds consistent with what I had for the day. Job well done!
:10:01. > :10:05.has been great meeting three people so passionate about the weather. I
:10:05. > :10:08.think we have proved it is not quite an exact science. As a nation, we
:10:08. > :10:18.will always be obsessed with the climate and whatever it throws at
:10:18. > :10:27.
:10:27. > :10:32.Still to come: the project to save threatened conifers from extension.
:10:32. > :10:37.Modern-day plant collectors are really fighting a battle. A guide to
:10:37. > :10:39.capturing the perfect Scottish sunset. There's some nice pastel
:10:39. > :10:42.colours there that people appreciate, which really helps it
:10:42. > :10:49.because it is nice to get the colours reflecting off the bottom of
:10:49. > :10:54.the clouds. Over the last century, our native
:10:54. > :10:56.honeybee population has declined dramatically. I met a beekeeper here
:10:56. > :11:06.in the nature reserve who is bredding native queens to repopulat
:11:06. > :11:07.
:11:07. > :11:12.hives. For thousands of years, the most common strain of honeybee in
:11:12. > :11:17.Britain was the native dark bee, or black bee as some call them. Their
:11:17. > :11:21.ability to stay alive during harsh winters ensured their survival. But
:11:21. > :11:26.the last century has brought them to the edge of extinction. Margie
:11:26. > :11:30.Ramsay is a beekeeper who is helping conserve the dark bee and their
:11:30. > :11:33.genetic legacy. In little pockets throughout the British Isles, on
:11:33. > :11:43.islands and on very remote areas, there are still small colonies being
:11:43. > :11:43.
:11:44. > :11:46.kept. A few years ago, we decided to go up to these remote colonies and
:11:46. > :11:56.instead of taking bees away and depleting those colonies, cut out
:11:56. > :12:00.
:12:00. > :12:03.some little bits of wood and raise new Queens. The new Queens will be
:12:03. > :12:12.crossed and recrossed with the non-native bee colonies and will
:12:13. > :12:16.eventually produce genetically pure stock. I am here to help Margie
:12:16. > :12:20.remove the larvae from the hive and then take them to the lab to start
:12:20. > :12:23.the process of creating new Queens. I've only been here half an hour and
:12:23. > :12:29.already I have been stung on the head, not the most pleasant
:12:29. > :12:33.experience so it is on with the suit before going to bees. OK, we will
:12:33. > :12:36.have a look and see if we can find the Queen and where she has been
:12:36. > :12:43.laying. If we can, we will try and take some food for grafting. There
:12:43. > :12:47.is the Queen, can you see her with the white dot on? There she is.We
:12:47. > :12:57.will try and cut this bit out at the bottom here. Good God Almighty, they
:12:57. > :12:57.
:12:57. > :13:03.are going mental! Put that in the box. You can put the lid on that.
:13:03. > :13:06.About 100 years ago, everybody's great granda was keeping these bees.
:13:06. > :13:12.Then there was the first of the great bee plagues and unfortunately,
:13:12. > :13:17.it coincided with the Great War. So a lot of the beekeepers just were
:13:17. > :13:23.not available. Consequently, the bee populations of the British Isles
:13:23. > :13:28.were almost totally decimated. The government and the bee farmers had
:13:28. > :13:35.to import bees from the continent. These are a different subspecies.
:13:35. > :13:38.They are the yellow bees that people might think of as honeybees.
:13:38. > :13:41.century of interbreeding with imported honeybee strains have made
:13:41. > :13:47.the native dark bee very rare. Unfortunately, that is not the only
:13:47. > :13:50.threat to its survival. You hear about diseases, you hear about the
:13:50. > :13:53.effects of climate but a massive factor is the loss of these flower
:13:53. > :13:58.rich areas in the countryside that we would have had in the past,
:13:58. > :14:02.contracting all the time. The way agriculture has changed over the
:14:02. > :14:05.years, we have lost a lot of the traditional hay meadows and now the
:14:05. > :14:08.best places to find in those places like the Western Isles, where we
:14:08. > :14:18.still have the grasslands and that range of floral diversity for them
:14:18. > :14:18.
:14:18. > :14:24.to get nectar and pollen to survive. I've got our piece of young brood
:14:24. > :14:30.here. We are going to try and remove some young larvae and graft them
:14:30. > :14:34.into these preformed caps. What would happen to this after you put
:14:34. > :14:43.them in here? We will take them and put them back into a queen-less
:14:43. > :14:52.raising hive. The young worker bees will then feed them and gorge them
:14:52. > :15:02.and the young Queens will start pupating. After 16 days, they will
:15:02. > :15:18.
:15:18. > :15:25.hatch out hopefully and be ready to mate. My their genetic legacy is in
:15:25. > :15:31.danger of being lost for ever. What would be really good is if we have
:15:31. > :15:36.the conservation of these bees but also, we need some sort of programme
:15:36. > :15:42.whereby they can be given to people who can do something with them. It
:15:42. > :15:52.would alive people who want to keep the native bees, as opposed to a
:15:52. > :16:00.
:16:00. > :16:06.foreign bee, because at the moment it is almost impossible. The weather
:16:06. > :16:15.here is absolutely stunning. What about the prospects for this weekend
:16:15. > :16:19.and beyond? Judith Ralston has the Good evening. A changeable look to
:16:19. > :16:23.the weather for the weekend. Settling down nicely for Monday. As
:16:23. > :16:29.far as tomorrow is concerned, we have this area of low pressure above
:16:29. > :16:32.us. It is generating showery activity. Those showers becoming
:16:32. > :16:36.more prolonged over western Scotland. It is further south
:16:36. > :16:42.tomorrow when we have it largely dry with brightness coming through. We
:16:42. > :16:47.see that area of rain into the Mull area, also into northern Argyle and
:16:47. > :16:51.the great Glenn as well. By the time of the afternoon, we will have heavy
:16:51. > :16:57.showers developing over southern Scotland, thundery and slow-moving
:16:57. > :17:01.too. We hold on to the rain. North of here, we should see some
:17:01. > :17:07.brightness coming through. A cloudier day for the Northern
:17:07. > :17:12.Isles. Breezy for Shetland. A strong wind. Into the north-east, drier
:17:12. > :17:16.conditions. The best of the sunshine, the highest to the
:17:16. > :17:21.north-east, around 16-17 Celsius at best. If you are heading to the
:17:21. > :17:25.hills tomorrow for the western ranges, extensive hill fog at first
:17:25. > :17:28.tomorrow. Staying that way for southern ranges tomorrow.
:17:28. > :17:32.Temperatures above freezing level. We will pick up a strong wind over
:17:32. > :17:36.southern ranges. That is the case as well for more eastern parts.
:17:36. > :17:41.Certainly picking up that wind across the Perthshire and Border
:17:41. > :17:51.hills. Come north, we will see brighter skies with just the odd
:17:51. > :17:57.
:17:57. > :18:02.passing shower and lighter winds. The inshore rathers inshore water -
:18:02. > :18:05.moderate visibility. Force three or force four, that is
:18:05. > :18:09.south-westerly too, with good visibility here. Towards the north
:18:09. > :18:13.coast and the Northern Isles, north-easterly, force four or five
:18:13. > :18:17.and visibility will be good. We continue to see that rain affecting
:18:17. > :18:21.western Scotland and the showers in the south, they will pull away as we
:18:21. > :18:26.reach the evening period. It should become dry with some clear spells.
:18:26. > :18:30.It will be a mild night as well. Sunday we start to see a ridge of
:18:30. > :18:36.high pressure. Sunday is not looking too bad at all. A lot of dry weather
:18:36. > :18:41.in the forecast. With light winds it will be pleasant, just the odd
:18:41. > :18:45.passing shower. A lot of dry weather, good spells of
:18:45. > :18:51.sunshine, especially for northern Scotland. More cloud in the south.
:18:51. > :18:55.Up to 16 Celsius at best. On Tuesday, we hold on to the settled
:18:55. > :19:01.conditions. This weather front brings some rain on Tuesday night.
:19:01. > :19:05.It will clear away on Wednesday morning. 16-17 Celsius on Tuesday.
:19:05. > :19:09.Pleasant where we see the sunshine. On Wednesday, the rain clears to the
:19:09. > :19:19.north. It may linger for a time, but it will brighten up in the south
:19:19. > :19:21.
:19:21. > :19:26.Over the past three weeks, Nick has been exploring the wonders of the
:19:26. > :19:32.royal bot nic garden in Edinburgh. In the final part of his series he
:19:32. > :19:38.looks at a global project to save threatened species of conifers.
:19:38. > :19:43.Back in the early days, the royal bot Royal Botanic Gardens of
:19:43. > :19:51.Edinburgh sent plant-hunters to every corner of the globe, in search
:19:51. > :19:56.of exotic plants. Seeds and saplings were created -- - planted out,
:19:56. > :20:01.creating the fabulous gardens we see today. Not much has changed. One of
:20:01. > :20:05.the current projects is aimed at preserving conifers from around the
:20:05. > :20:15.world. The future of these trees is
:20:15. > :20:22.
:20:22. > :20:27.Modern day collectors are fighting a battle. They are trying to research
:20:27. > :20:31.groups, many of which are under threat, for a wide variety of
:20:31. > :20:36.reasons. It is important to study these plant groups and learn about
:20:36. > :20:42.them while we have the opportunity. The conifers are something we
:20:42. > :20:50.specialise in. The international conifer programme, which was
:20:50. > :20:56.established in 1991, has a number of sites across. We monitor 12,000
:20:56. > :21:01.living plants. How far abroad do you travel to find genetic material?
:21:01. > :21:06.got back recently from chilli. This is an interesting snapshot. We have
:21:06. > :21:14.monkey puzzles from chilli. We have trees from the Middle East, we have
:21:14. > :21:19.the United States, Greece, Pakistan, China, Bosnia, Kazakhstan. So it is
:21:19. > :21:23.a really cosmopolitan collection. So, Tom, we will get involved in
:21:23. > :21:31.some manual work here and actually plant some trees. What will go
:21:31. > :21:35.where? Well, we will plant a tree over here. South America 's answer
:21:35. > :21:39.to the giant red wood. They can grow for thousands of years. The oldest
:21:39. > :21:48.in chilli are 5,000 years old. They can reach up to 50 metres in the
:21:48. > :21:58.wild. They are smaller in cultivation. Great foliage.
:21:58. > :22:01.
:22:01. > :22:05.This will go on the banks of a Why Perthshire? What is so special
:22:05. > :22:11.about planting in Perthshire? is a terrific history of
:22:11. > :22:17.tree-planting here. It goes back to the 18th century when larch was
:22:18. > :22:23.planted. Famously planted, very close to here, allegedly by firing
:22:23. > :22:27.seed out of a cannon. Not so sure about that. The legacy are these
:22:27. > :22:37.huge forests we have got and the great tree collections for which it
:22:37. > :22:39.
:22:39. > :22:44.Some of the most magnificent trees we have in the country.
:22:44. > :22:49.The royal botanic garden in Edinburgh has spent the last 350
:22:50. > :22:56.years studying and caring for the world's flora. What better way than
:22:56. > :23:06.to celebrate the year of Natural Scotland than by planting this
:23:06. > :23:06.
:23:06. > :23:11.Now, this time next week,ly be on the Isle of Lewis for a special
:23:11. > :23:20.programme called Mid- Summer Live, celebrating the longest day among
:23:20. > :23:26.the standing stones. We hope, weather permitting, to capture the
:23:26. > :23:30.summer sol tis. I will tell tell you how to send in your photographs in a
:23:30. > :23:40.minute. I went to meet a photographer who has captured some
:23:40. > :23:44.
:23:44. > :23:49.Scotland is justly famous for its large sky and stunning sunsets.
:23:49. > :23:57.Landscape artists and frachers come here in their -- photographers con
:23:57. > :24:03.here in their droves to capture that minute when the sun rise dips below
:24:03. > :24:08.the Horizon. Calum is a photographer who is obsessed with capturing
:24:08. > :24:12.sunsets. Tell me about this place - why have we come here? We have come
:24:12. > :24:19.here, overlooking Perth, because it is a great view of Perth. I have
:24:19. > :24:24.is a great view of Perth. I have taken photographs here before. I We
:24:24. > :24:29.have Perth there. It is my home town. I have had some good shots
:24:29. > :24:33.before. I have come here tonight to do it again and hopefully we catch
:24:33. > :24:39.something very special. What is so special about sunsets for you?
:24:39. > :24:43.Everything. But especially in Scotland, for me, the west coast is
:24:43. > :24:50.absolutely terrific. The colours and they change minute by minute. You
:24:50. > :24:56.can turn around and everything is going from a bright sunny, clear
:24:56. > :25:02.sky, to all of a sudden it is dark and gone a deep red or there are
:25:02. > :25:06.purples and blues. It is just an amazing time of the day. How much is
:25:06. > :25:11.it fortune - I won't say luck - fortune, because of the weather
:25:11. > :25:15.conditions, because there's only so much planning I would imagine you
:25:16. > :25:21.can do. You make your own luck by being in the right place and then it
:25:21. > :25:24.is the right time there after. You go to the same place again and again
:25:25. > :25:28.and there is nothing on. Other times you can happen to be there and it's
:25:28. > :25:38.there. So, what makes the perfect sunset
:25:38. > :25:39.
:25:39. > :25:43.photograph do you think? It can be anything. As long as somebody can
:25:43. > :25:48.say, there is something there I like, or recognise, then it is
:25:48. > :25:52.perfect. I travelled all over Scotland with Landward and these are
:25:52. > :26:00.some of the sunsets I have grabbed with my smartphone. We want to
:26:00. > :26:04.showcase the best sunsets taken by showcase the best sunsets taken by
:26:04. > :26:14.you on Mid- Summer Live next week. If you want them on the telly, send
:26:14. > :26:15.
:26:15. > :26:21.So, this is a modern reputation of a man-made fort or something. Do you
:26:21. > :26:25.like putting in things as well as well as the actual sunset itself?
:26:25. > :26:31.Sometimes I can get the sun dipping down on the sea and you get the
:26:31. > :26:35.colours bouncing up off the water, that is fantastic. Another time a
:26:35. > :26:39.silhouette, whether a tree, a rock formation, kit be equally as
:26:39. > :26:43.spectacular. We've come hoo up here tonight - there's something in my
:26:43. > :26:48.mind's eye I want to get, but as usual, you have to be in the right
:26:48. > :26:53.place at the right time. We'll have to see.
:26:53. > :27:00.It is dropping nicely. If we keep the cloud level, we should be on for
:27:00. > :27:06.it. Fingers crossed! It is now 9. 9.15pm and the cloud
:27:06. > :27:15.over Perth is pretty thick. We will not see a sunset shot as we wanted,
:27:16. > :27:21.but he may get a pretty bonny It is pleasant enough, but it's not
:27:21. > :27:26.spectacular. There is a nice lot of pass tell colours there that people
:27:26. > :27:30.appreciate. I prefer it a little more dramatic, a bit more stark
:27:30. > :27:36.contrasts than we are seeing just now. It is unfortunate. Tomorrow
:27:36. > :27:42.night could be another story. Here is the image Calum managed to
:27:42. > :27:47.capture, but if you think you can do better we want you to send them into
:27:47. > :27:57.Mid- Summer Live, where we will showcase the best on the programme.
:27:57. > :27:57.
:27:57. > :28:01.Just a reminder, you can send your Or via Twitter:
:28:01. > :28:08.Now, before the sunsets on this programme, I have just got time to
:28:08. > :28:13.tell you about next week's Landward. It is the highlight of the Scottish
:28:13. > :28:21.countryside calendar, the Royal Highland Show. We will bring you not
:28:21. > :28:29.one but two programmes. The first programme will be on