Bees or lack of them

[clackvalve]

has anyone else noticed that there is a distinct lack of bees out due to the cold weather and nothing is getting pollunated?

[clackvalve]

[star]

Yes there is a lack of bees, having said that I get a lot of Bumble bees on warm days....not that many warm days though  :(
Lets hope June is a bit warmer to give them a chance.

[BarriedaleNick]

We have 2 or 3 hives on our site and yesterday they were all over the PSB which had gone to flower. But I spoke to the keepers and they said that April was a terrible month for them and that hey had to feed them (sugar syrup) to make sure they got through the month.  They seem a bit more active now though..

[Digeroo]

Very few bees around here.  Though on warmer days there seems to be a few.  Strawberries and red currants seem to be fattening up ok.  It will be interesting to see if the apple trees have been pollinated.  I cut the flowers off my psb so it produces some more to eat, but there have been bees on the honesty.

Supposed to be warming up Tuesday/Wednesday.

[goodlife]

Yep...not many about.
The weather is actually been that bad that some beekeepers have lost colonies due to starvation. Bees have not either been able venture outside the hive because of the bad weather or the flowers have been full of water after rain and they cannot harvest any nectar.
I had to feed my bees last week..one of the hives was bone dry..not a drop of food inside.. :o I'm glad that I court up with the situation before it would have gone all 'ugly'.

[star]

 Good news that you managed to save your bees Goodlife, its all to easy to miss things when everything happens out of sight.

Just a question to bee experts.....can anyone without a hive leave sugar syrup out for the bees? Would they find it and drink or would it be a waste of time?

[goodlife]

You can..but if you do have any beekeepers within few miles radius..it doesn't do any good for the honey crop as it can spoil the 'crop'.
When the weather is cool and not so good...bumble bees are quite likely the only bees flying about..so you could put small saucer out with sugar syryp and see if they should use/need it. It is important that you only use white caster sugar as 'natural' or 'brown' will upset their tummies and give them runny bum.
Just pour some boiling water on small amount of sugar and let it melt and cool down. It is good practice to leave few stones or bebbles on saucer that will give the bees somewhere to land on and help them fromd drowning.
Once the weather start improving..dispose the sugar syryp away..so you don't attract honey bees.
I know you mean well..but out of apiary sources for honey bees doesn't help...and it can be bit troublesome for you as well..once honey bees find good source of 'food'..they will come to empty your saucer by their hundreds.. :-X ;D..it will be cloud of bees...not just odd happy buzzer.

[star]

Thanks Goodlife, thats exactly what I needed to know ;D We have no hives near us and last year I only saw a few honey bees. Thanks again for your very descriptive post I shall be very careful when I put the syrup out. ;) :-*

[Robert_Brenchley]

Hives came through the mild winter very strong, then boomed in the warm weather in March. Then we had the cold weather, just when they're at their most vulnerable. They've been eating their way through their stores all winter, they've got a lot of brood which eats like mad, and they can't forage. So they run out of food and starve. Colonies with a lot of imported blood may keep the queens laying, and that's fatal; if they stop laying in bad weather, like the old native bees. they've got a much better chance as it minimises food requirements.

Mine are now very strong, and have masses of brood once more. There aren't many feral (wild) colonies any more due to mites, and there are fewer beekeepers than there used to be, so if you live some distance from a beekeeper, you probably won't see honeybees.

[star]

That's such a shame, thanks for the info Robert ;).