Anybody seen Balsam out yet?

[ultreen1]

Been flowering for a bit now, some pods already at my out apiary...I helped the grounds keeper pull some up on Tuesday!
It's a beast...8ft tall and its everywhere!
Much earlier this year tho!

 

[Thymallus]

Funnily enough I've been doing the same, spray on banks that are vulnerable to erosion and forget about the rest. Seeds have up to 10 year dormancy period so any eradication is a very long term project.
Problem is that many anglers just hate the stuff on sight. Being a beekeeper as well you wear two caps.

 

[jonnybeegood]

I see your point sbout it dying back leaving bare areas, they sometimes spray it here but dont do anything to replace it with anything else. I get quite a bit here away from rivers, itll be a shame to lose it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Problem is that many anglers just hate the stuff on sight. Being a beekeeper as well you wear two caps.

HB always brings about a few chuckles at the Carmarthenshire Fishermens Federation meetings as both the chairman (myself) and the secretary are beekeepers

 

[Thymallus]

HB always brings about a few chuckles at the Carmarthenshire Fishermens Federation meetings as both the chairman (myself) and the secretary are beekeepers

The keeper on one of the rivers I fish does a similar job as he is a bit of a bee lover, directs the conservationists to some areas and neglects to tell them about the others. Which funnily enough is not far from my out apiary. For the another beck I simply don't allow spraying apart from exposed banks where we have a licensed sprayer.
Everyone thinks they are doing the right thing.
It works for me.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just got back from a trip to London. The railway embankments between Swansea and Gowerton are suffer with Japanese knotweed.

 

[dpearce4]

its in flower widespread round Sussex, seen it up the Adur valley, along the A23, all round the area between Ditchling and Haywards Heath but none anywhere near any of my hives.

 

[kazmcc]

The two small patches I know of aren't flowering yet, but I spotted one yesterday that was easily over 7 foot tall! I tried to get a pic, but my phone is full of bonking beetle pics doing as their name suggests ( red common soldier beetles ) and rose sawfly larvae pics, so had no room. Will get one on Monday. It was magnificent!

 

[jonnybeegood]

The two small patches I know of aren't flowering yet, but I spotted one yesterday that was easily over 7 foot tall! I tried to get a pic, but my phone is full of bonking beetle pics doing as their name suggests ( red common soldier beetles ) and rose sawfly larvae pics, so had no room. Will get one on Monday. It was magnificent!

If you nip the top off you get even more flowers from side shoots

 

[Marton]

I wish folks would devote their excess energies to ripping Ragwort out.

Hear hear.

 

[kazmcc]

If you nip the top off you get even more flowers from side shoots

I'll grab me step ladders lol

 

[kazmcc]

Flowering now. Saw the first yesterday.

 

[kazmcc]

As promised, the pictures of the towering HB. My other half is 5ft 10, and I've added a pic of the little one with the plant, just because he is cute. Can anyone beat that?

Edit - the biggest is just on the left of that sapling to Rob's left.

 

[Swarm]

In a thick, dense stand they will get taller. Been flowering in these parts since mid June, same as last year. It gave no meaningful flow last year so I'm hoping things won't be the same this year or the season will have been a pretty shabby one.

 

[kazmcc]

In a thick, dense stand they will get taller. Been flowering in these parts since mid June, same as last year. It gave no meaningful flow last year so I'm hoping things won't be the same this year or the season will have been a pretty shabby one.

Yes, they had to compete with the saplings. There is a small bunch of them by the river too, but they seemed to lose their flowers very quickly last year and died. There was a bigger bunch where these triffids were, but I think the parks dept came and got rid of them.

 

[Erichalfbee]

In a thick, dense stand they will get taller. Been flowering in these parts since mid June, same as last year. It gave no meaningful flow last year so I'm hoping things won't be the same this year or the season will have been a pretty shabby one.

Should be better this year. We've had more rain

 

[MartinL]

Flowering by the pond in the garden now.

 

[BeeJayBee]

We've had more rain

So that's where our rain has gone!

 

[Swarm]

Been a dreadful Summer, constant wind, cold evening temps and a fair amount of rain. August was a bit of a dearth last year, the nectar brakes went firmly on in the last week of July and nothing came in until the Ivy. Years before that I used to treat with apiguard in October due to the Balsam, there's been no full scale eradication, not that we have loads of the stuff, so just putting it down to conditions.

 

[Tremyfro]

I am hoping to see white ladies entering my hives when I get back from holiday....haven't seen any HB in flower yet!