Topic: bee keeping

[tomatoada]

One of the plotholders on my site is planning to keep bees.  We are very keen for him to do so.
However someone has told him that his plot won't benefit as bees like to find pollen some distance from the hive.  Is this true?

[goodlife]

No, not necessary.Bees forage for the nectar around 3 miles radius from their home..closer the better but they go for the crop that is most yielding so even if there is some nectar yielding plants right next to the hive they rather go little bit further if there is lot of certain flowers...that is 'general' rule..but if there is not many flowers about they do 'bits and bobs' rather than starve and if the weather is bit 'iffy' they don't like to fly too far so flowers closer to home come useful.
Now pollen..that is different story. Not all flowers are useful for nectar and pollen same time..so yield one 'crop' and some only other. Poppies are good example, they are flowers that bees harvest pollen only and those flowers supply huge quantity of the stuff per flower, so they are eagerly visited by all sorts of bees.
I've got various sort of bee plants dotted around my plots and I see honey bees on them all the time. Of course I cannot definitely say that they are my girls, but I see lot of them..end of the day, bee is bee and who's bee it is doesn't matter.. ;)

[tomatoada]

Thanks for your reply.  So they go to the nearest big patch of flowers.   

[goodlife]

Not so much of the biggest batch..but the highest yielding or best quality. Bees always look the maximum outcome for their efforts.
Sometimes it can be the biggest batch flowers and sometimes it is just type of flower that give them best/most sugars in the nectar. They don't always look just for 'any food'..what they look is sweetness in the nectar. They don't use nectar for feeding as it is, but they have to take it into nest..dehydrate excess water out of it so the sugars come more consentrated and eventually its turned into honey. If the nectar is very watery,it is lot of work with flying and carrying it about and then trying evaporate the water off ..and end up with next to nothing. So they rather look for something that is already bit sweeter.
For example..blossom on sunny side of apple tree has better nectar then in shade side..they will harvest according how the sun will turn around and warm the flowers..warmer flowers and more sugars in nectar.
Rapeseed oil nectar has very sugary nectar and it is very eagerly collected by bees..which sometimes can give bit of 'headache' for beekerper if trying to contract bees to do pollinating job for particular crops..if there is rapeseed field near enough for the bees..they will fly there instead of the crops they were brought in for.. ::) ;D

Oh..I get carried away now.. :-X...but I'm sure you got the picture.. ;) ;D ..bees are clever little things.

[tomatoada]

Many, many thanks for taking time to post the above.  I am printing it out to study. 

[tomatoada]

PS.  Which plants are bee plants?

[goodlife]

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Which plants are bee plants?This time I think it will be easier to provide you a link... ;)
http://www.bbka.org.uk/files/library/pollen_&_nectar_rich_plants_for_your_garden_by_season_june_2011_for_website_1310045511.pdf

[Melbourne12]

PS.  Which plants are bee plants?

Goodlife has it absolutely spot on.  It's a fascinating and surprisingly complicated subject.  You can add in another factor: not all nectar-rich flowers encourage bees.  Some are pollinated by flies or other insects, and the bees find it diffcult to enter the flowers.

I've got a book in front of me called "Plants and Beekeeping" by F.N.Howes.  It was published in 1945, so it lacks modern crops like rapeseed, which is undoubtedly very high on the list.  But the author lists the following as the major sources of nectar in Britain for honeybees:

• Clover
• Lime
• Heather
• Fruit blossom (he means both tree and soft fruits)
• Sainfoin
• Mustard
• Charlock
• Hawthorn
• Sycamore
• Blackberry
• Willow-herb
• Field beans
• Buckwheat
• Dandelion

Some are weeds.  Some aren't so widely grown (buckwheat, for example).

I could go through the book and list the fruit, veg, and flowers that one could grow in a garden if you like?  We plant lavender on the allotment for its bee-attracting properties, for example.

[saddad]

I have a small block of Sainfoil on my lottie for just that purpose.  :)

[goodlife]

Code: [Select]

You can add in another factor: not all nectar-rich flowers encourage bees. ..yes..for example honeysuckle is pollinated by moths not bees...and added to that not all 'bee plants' suit all bees. Different bees have different lenght tongues..those with long tongues (most bumble bees) can visit plants where the nectar source is too far in for the short tongued bees..honey bees as classified as shot tongued.

I often leave odd onion, leek and brassicas to flower..all bees enjoy their flowers.. 

[tomatoada]

Fascinating absolutely.  Lots to ponder.   Will log onto that site.
I have a large patch of comfrey which is covered in Bumble bees at present, which I love to watch.
Thanks to all.

[tomatoada]

Melbourne 12.  Yes please - veg. and common flowers.

[Robert_Brenchley]

My bees forage all over my plot, any time there's anything worth having. They use the most profitable sources, which is a function of distance, the quantity of nectar available from a particular species, and the sugar concentration in that nectar. So when the borage blooms, for instance, it's covered with them. Other times they'll find something further away, and there may be none at all working flowers on the plot.

[tomatoada]

What alot to take in. 
R/B I hope to come to your honey show in September.  Do you have to pay? 

[Robert_Brenchley]

No. Bring a bit of money for refreshments; they're provided by somebody else.

[tomatoada]

Thanks.  Look forward to it.