Episode 11 Landward

Landward, celebrating summer in the Scottish countryside. In a moment,

Sarah will be meeting an inventor behind a new device that could help

farmers and gardeners in the battle against slugs and snails. But first,

here is what else is coming up on the programme. We meet the

genetically pure native dark bees. We take a very young brood out from

one hive and we put it Onto a foster home. The Royal Botanic Gardens,

Edinburgh, lead the global project to save conifers. China, Bosnia,

Kazakhstan, so it's a really cosmopolitan connection. I go in

search of the perfect sunset. It is now 9:15pm and Callum may well get a

really bonny photograph. Gardeners and fruit and veg farmers

face a constant battle to keep slugs and snails off their crops. Yes,

there are lots of chemicals on the market but now a Scottish inventor

has come up with a barrier system to keep molluscs away from their crops.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and that rings true for

Mike Ingles, who was simply sick of his plants being eaten by snails and

slugs. I looked around in the marketplace. Obviously, I knew about

pellets. I decided against them because I knew that they contained a

toxin. Mostly metaldehyde. Not every gardener wants to use that? I think

now, people are becoming more and more aware of the environment and

what we are doing to it. It sounds to me that you were keen to find an

alternative? Indeed, it all started in my potting shed over there. From

the initial bits of cardboard and bits of string etc, it has taken ten

years to now eventually get the product to the market. How does it

work? Basically, it is designed to stop slugs and snails getting in to

a protected area. The kit comes in two sections. One is a ground insert

and the second is a comb element. The secret of the design and the

patent is that the slug and snail cannot get over this comb system.

Why can they not cross this combed bit? It is a very good question. The

experiments seemed to prove that because of the nature and the design

of the comb, eventually, they seemed to tire of the fact that they were

having to overcome another obstacle. We then saw was that they tended to

follow one of the grooves onto the end and eventually they would give

up and go back down again. Of course, the barrier is indeed turned

that way. There is an element of gravity attached to this because the

snail or slug will be upside down. Basically, they just give up.

next stop is Montrose to meet Andy Evans, the man from the agricultural

college who initially tested it. did some laboratory experiments

where we set up a barrier and cameras in the dark so we could see

how the slugs and snails behaved. Were they climbing up and over the

barrier, or not? Based on the positive results from that, we then

set up a field trial where we had 12 of these metal barriers in a field

planted with lettuce. We were just comparing the damage to lettuce in

the barrier compared to outside the barrier. What results did you have?

On average, 80 to 85% reduction in flood damage. I'm also here to meet

Mark Clark from Grampian Growers, a man who knows first-hand the

financial cost of slug and snail damage to the industry. If we didn't

apply slug pellets, the effect would be massive. Again, it is very

variety specific. Now the maris paper is particularly prone and you

could lose 100% of the crop if you did not treat it in the proper

fashion. Can you give us an indication of how much it costs your

growers to apply slug pellets every year? On a severe situation, you

could be somewhere between �1000 and �2000 for this field, roughly 17

hectares, for the season. What problems can arise from using

pesticides, how much damage can they do? If you think about slug pellets,

there is always the potential for non-target organisms eating the

pellets, whether it is birds, voles, mice etc. There are issues with some

of the pellets. These metaldehyde pellets which can end up drinking

water. What is your impression of the system? If an organic grower is

growing an expensive crop which is particularly prone to being damaged

by slugs and for example, something like asparagus, if you can grow that

within a barrier system, you can almost have season long protection.

When slugs invade your garden, we will do our best to keep them out

but doing that without poisoning your garden cannot be a bad thing.

So this is one we will watch with interest. I am already working on

new designs. We are looking at irrigation which could be added to

the system. That is probably more applicable in the commercial

environment, but yes, there are lots of other ideas in the pipeline.

Over the past two weeks, BBC Scotland weather presenter Judith

Ralston has met a couple of amateur weather enthusiasts. In the final

part of a series, she meets an IT professional who loves passing on

his passion for weather to schoolchildren.

I am here in Fife on this beautiful day to meet a man who was brought up

in the tropics of Australia, who subsequently moved back to Scotland

and set up his own mobile weather station. The weather in the tropics,

what was it actually like? The wet season storms, some of the most

phenomenal lightning I have witnessed in my life. I guess that

was what got me interested in weather from a very young age.

does it compare to what we have in Scotland? Over here, we noticed

straightaway the changeability of the weather, it can change at the

drop of a hat. You wake up in the morning, it's sunshine and by the

afternoon, it's chucking down hailstones! Since you have returned

to Scotland, what have you done to utilise that passion for weather

that you have? My passion inspired me to install a weather station at

my house. Being an IT professional by trade, of course, I had to put it

on the internet. I built a website. This is live a live dashboard and

gives updates every 15 seconds with live readings. What is this image?

This is a time lapse video so this gets produced at the end of each

day, so this is yesterday's time lapse video. In addition to the

weather station I've got set up at home, I built a weather station into

a vehicle. This is the mobile weather lab. I'll open the back up

so you can have a look at the brains of the operation. It provides a live

weather information service for big outdoor events. I also do a lot of

education work as well so I have visited schools and quite a few

science festivals over the years as well. Today I am going to be

forecasting for Friday, 26 April. Graham is also going to do exactly

the same and we are going to compare notes. My forecast is a bright start

to the day with maybe one or two showers but those showers will

become heavier in the afternoon. Temperatures up to nine or ten

degrees and winds starting West south-westerly veering to

north-westerly by the afternoon. Here's what I have come up with. We

do have this weather front sinking southwards across the country and

it's going to generate quite a number of showers as the day

progresses. Winds from the West initially and on the light side but

they will swing into the Northwest later which will bring colder air

across Scotland. We should be lucky and see 11 degrees Celsius. Hi

Graham, here are the results. Fantastic, I've been looking forward

to this moment of truth. Nervous?A little bit. A dry, cold, sunny spot.

Showers developing in the course of the day. Highs of ten or 11 Celsius.

That sounds consistent with what I had for the day. Job well done!

has been great meeting three people so passionate about the weather. I

think we have proved it is not quite an exact science. As a nation, we

will always be obsessed with the climate and whatever it throws at

Still to come: the project to save threatened conifers from extension.

Modern-day plant collectors are really fighting a battle. A guide to

capturing the perfect Scottish sunset. There's some nice pastel

colours there that people appreciate, which really helps it

because it is nice to get the colours reflecting off the bottom of

the clouds. Over the last century, our native

honeybee population has declined dramatically. I met a beekeeper here

in the nature reserve who is bredding native queens to repopulat

hives. For thousands of years, the most common strain of honeybee in

Britain was the native dark bee, or black bee as some call them. Their

ability to stay alive during harsh winters ensured their survival. But

the last century has brought them to the edge of extinction. Margie

Ramsay is a beekeeper who is helping conserve the dark bee and their

genetic legacy. In little pockets throughout the British Isles, on

islands and on very remote areas, there are still small colonies being

kept. A few years ago, we decided to go up to these remote colonies and

instead of taking bees away and depleting those colonies, cut out

some little bits of wood and raise new Queens. The new Queens will be

crossed and recrossed with the non-native bee colonies and will

eventually produce genetically pure stock. I am here to help Margie

remove the larvae from the hive and then take them to the lab to start

the process of creating new Queens. I've only been here half an hour and

already I have been stung on the head, not the most pleasant

experience so it is on with the suit before going to bees. OK, we will

have a look and see if we can find the Queen and where she has been

laying. If we can, we will try and take some food for grafting. There

is the Queen, can you see her with the white dot on? There she is.We

will try and cut this bit out at the bottom here. Good God Almighty, they

are going mental! Put that in the box. You can put the lid on that.

About 100 years ago, everybody's great granda was keeping these bees.

Then there was the first of the great bee plagues and unfortunately,

it coincided with the Great War. So a lot of the beekeepers just were

not available. Consequently, the bee populations of the British Isles

were almost totally decimated. The government and the bee farmers had

to import bees from the continent. These are a different subspecies.

They are the yellow bees that people might think of as honeybees.

century of interbreeding with imported honeybee strains have made

the native dark bee very rare. Unfortunately, that is not the only

threat to its survival. You hear about diseases, you hear about the

effects of climate but a massive factor is the loss of these flower

rich areas in the countryside that we would have had in the past,

contracting all the time. The way agriculture has changed over the

years, we have lost a lot of the traditional hay meadows and now the

best places to find in those places like the Western Isles, where we

still have the grasslands and that range of floral diversity for them

to get nectar and pollen to survive. I've got our piece of young brood

here. We are going to try and remove some young larvae and graft them

into these preformed caps. What would happen to this after you put

them in here? We will take them and put them back into a queen-less

raising hive. The young worker bees will then feed them and gorge them

and the young Queens will start pupating. After 16 days, they will

hatch out hopefully and be ready to mate. My their genetic legacy is in

danger of being lost for ever. What would be really good is if we have

the conservation of these bees but also, we need some sort of programme

whereby they can be given to people who can do something with them. It

would alive people who want to keep the native bees, as opposed to a

foreign bee, because at the moment it is almost impossible. The weather

here is absolutely stunning. What about the prospects for this weekend

and beyond? Judith Ralston has the Good evening. A changeable look to

the weather for the weekend. Settling down nicely for Monday. As

far as tomorrow is concerned, we have this area of low pressure above

us. It is generating showery activity. Those showers becoming

more prolonged over western Scotland. It is further south

tomorrow when we have it largely dry with brightness coming through. We

see that area of rain into the Mull area, also into northern Argyle and

the great Glenn as well. By the time of the afternoon, we will have heavy

showers developing over southern Scotland, thundery and slow-moving

too. We hold on to the rain. North of here, we should see some

brightness coming through. A cloudier day for the Northern

Isles. Breezy for Shetland. A strong wind. Into the north-east, drier

conditions. The best of the sunshine, the highest to the

north-east, around 16-17 Celsius at best. If you are heading to the

hills tomorrow for the western ranges, extensive hill fog at first

tomorrow. Staying that way for southern ranges tomorrow.

Temperatures above freezing level. We will pick up a strong wind over

southern ranges. That is the case as well for more eastern parts.

Certainly picking up that wind across the Perthshire and Border

hills. Come north, we will see brighter skies with just the odd

passing shower and lighter winds. The inshore rathers inshore water -

moderate visibility. Force three or force four, that is

south-westerly too, with good visibility here. Towards the north

coast and the Northern Isles, north-easterly, force four or five

and visibility will be good. We continue to see that rain affecting

western Scotland and the showers in the south, they will pull away as we

reach the evening period. It should become dry with some clear spells.

It will be a mild night as well. Sunday we start to see a ridge of

high pressure. Sunday is not looking too bad at all. A lot of dry weather

in the forecast. With light winds it will be pleasant, just the odd

passing shower. A lot of dry weather, good spells of

sunshine, especially for northern Scotland. More cloud in the south.

Up to 16 Celsius at best. On Tuesday, we hold on to the settled

conditions. This weather front brings some rain on Tuesday night.

It will clear away on Wednesday morning. 16-17 Celsius on Tuesday.

Pleasant where we see the sunshine. On Wednesday, the rain clears to the

north. It may linger for a time, but it will brighten up in the south

Over the past three weeks, Nick has been exploring the wonders of the

royal bot nic garden in Edinburgh. In the final part of his series he

looks at a global project to save threatened species of conifers.

Back in the early days, the royal bot Royal Botanic Gardens of

Edinburgh sent plant-hunters to every corner of the globe, in search

of exotic plants. Seeds and saplings were created -- - planted out,

creating the fabulous gardens we see today. Not much has changed. One of

the current projects is aimed at preserving conifers from around the

world. The future of these trees is

Modern day collectors are fighting a battle. They are trying to research

groups, many of which are under threat, for a wide variety of

reasons. It is important to study these plant groups and learn about

them while we have the opportunity. The conifers are something we

specialise in. The international conifer programme, which was

established in 1991, has a number of sites across. We monitor 12,000

living plants. How far abroad do you travel to find genetic material?

got back recently from chilli. This is an interesting snapshot. We have

monkey puzzles from chilli. We have trees from the Middle East, we have

the United States, Greece, Pakistan, China, Bosnia, Kazakhstan. So it is

a really cosmopolitan collection. So, Tom, we will get involved in

some manual work here and actually plant some trees. What will go

where? Well, we will plant a tree over here. South America 's answer

to the giant red wood. They can grow for thousands of years. The oldest

in chilli are 5,000 years old. They can reach up to 50 metres in the

wild. They are smaller in cultivation. Great foliage.

This will go on the banks of a Why Perthshire? What is so special

about planting in Perthshire? is a terrific history of

tree-planting here. It goes back to the 18th century when larch was

planted. Famously planted, very close to here, allegedly by firing

seed out of a cannon. Not so sure about that. The legacy are these

huge forests we have got and the great tree collections for which it

Some of the most magnificent trees we have in the country.

The royal botanic garden in Edinburgh has spent the last 350

years studying and caring for the world's flora. What better way than

to celebrate the year of Natural Scotland than by planting this

Now, this time next week,ly be on the Isle of Lewis for a special

programme called Mid- Summer Live, celebrating the longest day among

the standing stones. We hope, weather permitting, to capture the

summer sol tis. I will tell tell you how to send in your photographs in a

minute. I went to meet a photographer who has captured some

Scotland is justly famous for its large sky and stunning sunsets.

Landscape artists and frachers come here in their -- photographers con

here in their droves to capture that minute when the sun rise dips below

the Horizon. Calum is a photographer who is obsessed with capturing

sunsets. Tell me about this place - why have we come here? We have come

here, overlooking Perth, because it is a great view of Perth. I have

is a great view of Perth. I have taken photographs here before. I We

have Perth there. It is my home town. I have had some good shots

before. I have come here tonight to do it again and hopefully we catch

something very special. What is so special about sunsets for you?

Everything. But especially in Scotland, for me, the west coast is

absolutely terrific. The colours and they change minute by minute. You

can turn around and everything is going from a bright sunny, clear

sky, to all of a sudden it is dark and gone a deep red or there are

purples and blues. It is just an amazing time of the day. How much is

it fortune - I won't say luck - fortune, because of the weather

conditions, because there's only so much planning I would imagine you

can do. You make your own luck by being in the right place and then it

is the right time there after. You go to the same place again and again

and there is nothing on. Other times you can happen to be there and it's

there. So, what makes the perfect sunset

photograph do you think? It can be anything. As long as somebody can

say, there is something there I like, or recognise, then it is

perfect. I travelled all over Scotland with Landward and these are

some of the sunsets I have grabbed with my smartphone. We want to

showcase the best sunsets taken by showcase the best sunsets taken by

you on Mid- Summer Live next week. If you want them on the telly, send

So, this is a modern reputation of a man-made fort or something. Do you

like putting in things as well as well as the actual sunset itself?

Sometimes I can get the sun dipping down on the sea and you get the

colours bouncing up off the water, that is fantastic. Another time a

silhouette, whether a tree, a rock formation, kit be equally as

spectacular. We've come hoo up here tonight - there's something in my

mind's eye I want to get, but as usual, you have to be in the right

place at the right time. We'll have to see.

It is dropping nicely. If we keep the cloud level, we should be on for

it. Fingers crossed! It is now 9. 9.15pm and the cloud

over Perth is pretty thick. We will not see a sunset shot as we wanted,

but he may get a pretty bonny It is pleasant enough, but it's not

spectacular. There is a nice lot of pass tell colours there that people

appreciate. I prefer it a little more dramatic, a bit more stark

contrasts than we are seeing just now. It is unfortunate. Tomorrow

night could be another story. Here is the image Calum managed to

capture, but if you think you can do better we want you to send them into

Mid- Summer Live, where we will showcase the best on the programme.

Just a reminder, you can send your Or via Twitter:

Now, before the sunsets on this programme, I have just got time to

tell you about next week's Landward. It is the highlight of the Scottish

countryside calendar, the Royal Highland Show. We will bring you not

one but two programmes. The first programme will be on