Allotments 4 All
Produce => Wildlife forum => Topic started by: Digeroo on May 07, 2009, 20:52:48
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There do not seem to be many bees around this year. Have other people noticed a shortage?
Our apple trees usually buzz with them, but there have only been a few, I am worried that there have not been enough to pollenate the fruit.
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I've seen plenty of bumble and honey bees. Not surprising about the latter as a plot neighbour has several hives on his plot!
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We seem to have plenty. Must go and ask my local honey man how his bees are doing (and get some honey too :D).
Every time I see him he tells me all about a local project to re-breed the native British black bee. When I ask worriedly if his bees are declining or showing signs of colony collapse he shakes his head and says they are thriving and he puts it all down to the trend for using bees imported from Italy which don't have the resistance to our harsher climate. No idea if he's right or not but I always enjoy talking to him and his honey is great!
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No need to re-breed the native bee; it's alive and flourishing in my hives, and a lot of other peoples'!
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In April, when the weather was quite warm, there were a few bumble bees and solitary bees around, even the odd cabbage white. Think they must have gone back indoors now. :D
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Robert
Is it a pure native black British bee? Do you find that it is relatively easy to handle, does not sting very much, does not swarm, does not build up very quickly and yet produces a reasonable crop of honey in a good season. Is it pure or has it crossed with the hybrids which abound in the UK due to imported queens. Do you ever have spare queens for requeening?
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Robert
Is it a pure native black British bee? Do you find that it is relatively easy to handle, does not sting very much, does not swarm, does not build up very quickly and yet produces a reasonable crop of honey in a good season. Is it pure or has it crossed with the hybrids which abound in the UK due to imported queens. Do you ever have spare queens for requeening?
I don't think there's any such thing as a 'pure' native bee any more; they're all hybridised to some extent. Mine originally came from west Cornwall, where there have been limited imports, and fit the parameters for Apis mellifera mellifera nicely, so they're probably as close to 'pure' as you'll get. It has all the characteristics you mention, though I do find it a little too slow building up in spring. There were once strains that built up fast for the early flow, and some decidedly swarmy strains, but it's only the heather bees from the north and west which survive now. It may be possible to improve them by breeding.
I don't see myself having spare queens this year, after two dire summers for mating. I wouldn't rule it out for the future though.
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there are no bees around here either :(
my garden is full of hardy geraniums in flower,forget me nots, solomans seal, bleeding heart etc, and the silence is deafening and that's not normal,
only the odd one or two at lottie/ shades x
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been ok here, all the fruit trees were buzzing :)
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Loads of Bees here in Sarf London but we do have hives in the woods next to the site. Lots of bumbles as well though...
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my garden is full of hardy geraniums in flower,forget me nots, solomans seal, bleeding heart etc, and the silence is deafening and that's not normal,
Maybe the book was a bit early... :-X
Not too bad here, but then we have hives on the site...
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at the beginning of spring i found there were many bumble bees and quite a few honey bees as well but i have noticed recently (the last four weeks or so) even though the weather has been more favourable and there are more flowers there seems to be a reduction in both set of bees ???
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Only seen two this year so far. Bumbles.
Worried I won't get any apples as the wind yesterday tried hard to blow all my blossom off. Trees were covered in it before the wind........
Seems you lot doon Southhave all me bees??? Anyone in Scotland/Borders seen any?
Gen in Northumberland
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No shortage of bee's here. They love the blue comfrey in the front garden. Daren't plant it round the lottie its to vigorous. But plenty of bees at the lottie as well. No bee hives on site so don't no where there flying in from, but glad they are.
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there are no bees around here either :(
my garden is full of hardy geraniums in flower,forget me nots, solomans seal, bleeding heart etc, and the silence is deafening and that's not normal,
only the odd one or two at lottie/ shades x
that ain't exactly a list of bee attractant flowers. the bees are probably on fruit trees or on the OSR in your area.?
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I've not seen a single hive bee on my plot for two years now but the place is swarming with bumble bees and this year there are definitely lots more solitary bees.
Stop trying to grow plants for bees or other wildlife. Grow food to eat and flowers to give yourself pleasure. Lay off the sprays, then all wildlife will quickly find a balance.
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I think that's the main thing, stay off the sprays. Then once you've done that, start looking at providing the right habitat for them.
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Oh no I am down south and there are not many bees at all. Do not use any sprays lived in same house nearly 25 years, no spraying at all. No weedkiller, no pesticides. Have small flower meadow. (very small) and several quite wild bits, (A couple of metres across.)
The blossom fell off my apple trees about 10 days ago when we had some rain. Only decent rain for more than six weeks, rest a few showers. And when I say few I mean very few. Holding my breath at the moment, to see if the fruit has set ok. Counted about three honey bees and four bumbles, hope they were busy.
Have black bees at allotment, never seen them before, now arrived also in garden.
Bit worried that the bees will not find the allotments since they are all new.
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Went to see my local honey man earlier today. His bees are fine. He keeps 18 hives at the moment (he is in his 70's!) and has local farmers begging him to put hives on their land as it increases their crop yields by 17 percent.
There is a lot of oil seed rape in flower at the moment so the bees are busy - it flowers for about 2 weeks and this year it has coincided with a sunny spell so the bees have harvested a lot of pollen from it - a bit of a mixed blessing as it doesn't make for the best honey and he tries to keep it to separate batches.
Apparently there are now only 89 beekeepers in Notts due to the expense of keeping hives, treating Varoa outbreakes etc. He is determined to keep his hives running. :)
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I would like to keep bees on my allotment but cannot cope with the thought of getting stung. Bit of a wuss me. Also set up quite expensive.
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I'm in the process of making a skep as therapy while I wait for the kettle to boil in the shed. Don't have a clue what I'll do with it when it's finished. Probably use it to stop the strawberries evaporating.
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I was looking at the hawthorn at the allotment (couldn't see much after that as i am allergic to it!) yesterday while passing to get water and I didn't see a single bee on it.
I have seen a lot of bumble bee's, most of them red tailed ones, at home in my Cerinthe which they love.
There is a Bumblebee survey which was mentioned in Gardener's World magazine this month http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/surveys.htm which you may like to contribute to.
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seen on my 'Bocking 14' Comfrey today
[attachment=1]
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There was a program on the TV the other day called "Who killed the honey bee?". Was interesting. You can view it on iplayer if you are interested. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jzjys/Who_Killed_the_Honey_Bee/
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Got loads of them.. various species. The kids are going to be pressed into making 'homes' for those at the allotment and the houses.
Janval
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I saw that programme.
So far I have seen quite a few bees on the plot so fingers crossed.
I have sown a lot of flower seed to help attract them too :)
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No shortage on my plot. I have thyme planted as ground cover under the apple tree and it's flowering now - was thick with bees yesterday. Bocking 14 comfrey behind the shed is also flowering and covered in bees. They keep getting lost and following me into the shed. Got got poached egg plants down both sides of the plot and phacelia in still empty beds all alive with bee activity.
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Not a major problem for us either. My thyme is swarming with bees, large and small, too. They also like the rosemary and angelica. The poached egg plants and nasturtiums should help too, once they start flowering.
We have a couple of plot holders who have designed their plots with bees in mind, in the hope that they will then spread around the entire site. They've got a lot of borage and nettles which they say are attracting lots of bees.
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Borage will certainly attract them. Bumblebees will visit deadnettle, but stingers, however useful for other insects, are of no interest to bees.
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Borage will certainly attract them. Bumblebees will visit deadnettle, but stingers, however useful for other insects, are of no interest to bees.
I note that you used the word stingers.
Is that a brummie midland word or is it nationwide because you rarely see it used now.
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*touching wood here... * ... The bees that we managed to get through winter are doing well. In fact, we need to find a home somewhere nearby for a couple of colonies which have outgrown our back garden! Like most beekeepers though, we had bad losses through 2008. 2007 was pretty dire too, except for a wonderful spring.
A word of hope: we have lots of new beekeepers -- courses all around the country run by BBKA (British Beekeepers' Association) branches are over-subscribed. The shortage is the bees themselves. :(
For anyone who wants to plant 'bee-food' plants, here's a really nice list and explanation from the RHS.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Research/biodiversity/plantsforbees.htm
Aim if you can to lengthen your garden/ lottie's flowering season at either end of the year, so you have useful plants in flower by February (especially pollen-bearers such as hellebores, snowdrops and willow)... and still have bee-forage available late into autumn, for bees to top-up stores for winter.
Bees in urban or suburban areas now often do better than many of their country cousins because there are pollen- and nectar-bearing flowers growing through a far longer part of the year. (Bring back country hedgerows, with all their blackthorn, brambles, teasels and ivy!)
Angle shades -- sorry about your silent garden. Keep planting -- the bees will come. And if your hardy geraniums are what I think (ie. cranesbills, not pelargoniums) they're a fine bee flower; so are forget-me-nots.
Wish I lived closer; I have to find new homes for some of my bees. :)
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I've always called nettles 'stingers', but I'm not sure where the term comes from. I think I picked it up off my father, and I've no idea where he got it from.
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few of these around today ;D
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Eristic, did you make your 'Skep'?
Loads of bees here.
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Eristic, did you make your 'Skep'?
Not finished yet, there is only so much tea a man can drink. It's currently about 12" high and a bit lop sided but it is starting to look something like what I imagine they should be. Trouble is I do not know what the proper size they are meant to be but it keeps me occupied.
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They vary enormously in size, or they did in the old days anyway. These days the ones I see are much of a muchness. I've heard tell of skeps a foot across, and 'bushel' skeps, which have to have been a lot bigger as they housed really powerful colonies. They could be extended as well, either by 'ekes', which went on top, with the bees gaining access though a hole in the top of the original skep, or 'nadirs', which were wide rings which went underneath. If you reckon to make it eighteen inches across, a foot high, and strong enough to stand on, you won't be far out!
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Managed a piccy of this one today, loads on the aquilegias, not sure if it's a white tail or a buff tail
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t87/ninnyscrops/DSCF1985.jpg
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Quite a lot of bees in garden today on alliums, geraniums and blueberries....
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Happy to say lots on the plot today, especially around the comfrey and plenty buzzing at home too. ;D
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I read an interesting article on 'skeps' it said they should be 15" wide and a foot long.
Tea drinking day today Eristic I've drunk about a gallon of it ;D
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Plenty around here,noticed a few on the broad beans today, looks like I might get a good crop this year!!
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I've just identified one of the bumblebees buzzing round my raspberries as the latest newcomer the tree bumblebee Bombus hypnorum. There is also another one that so far I cannot identify which may also be foreign.
The skep is now about 15" tall and with a bit of luck it will be finished this week. just you watch, Once I set it up no one will come down my plot for a nosy any more. An empty beehive is a better guard than a vicious dog.
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That's if people recognise it for what it is! The best people-repelling hive (though far from the best for beekeeping) is an old WBC painted white, since that's what always appears in 'cottagy' pictures.
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I'm lucky to have lots of bees in my garden. I took this today - pretty sure it's a buff-tailed bumble bee. :)
G x
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/georgie_girl15/Wildlife/P6110004.jpg)
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Lovely pic Georgie.
The weigela has been covered with them here today and the foxgloves, as always attracts them here.
What's the plant they are feeding in your pic?
Linda
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LOL Ninns, 'tis a bit out of focus but I blame the wind! ;) The plant is Rue. Their other favourites at the moment are Aquilegias, Pulmonaria, Dicentra and scented Pelargoniums. For some strange reason they are ignoring the Digitalis!
G x
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Obviously too much choice for them Georgie, haute cuisine bees you have ;D
As for the wind.............erm, didn't think you grew broad beans ::)
Linda
x
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Obviously too much choice for them Georgie, haute cuisine bees you have ;D
As for the wind.............erm, didn't think you grew broad beans ::)
Linda
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Wrong! Got two types of broadies in this year. ;D
G x
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Loads of bees around the garen and allotment, particularly on the rosemary, angelica, broad beans, geraniums (cranesbill) and raspberries.