Apple trees galore!

[pargyle]

The bumble bees seem to have a much better appreciation for my hard work - however, since yesterday, for whatever reason, the bees are now interested in my plumb tree..

They know what they are doing... clearly the Plum tree has reached the stage where either the pollen or nectar from it meets the bees requirement in terms of forage ... you should get a good crop of plums this year !

 

[BeeJuice]

They know what they are doing... clearly the Plum tree has reached the stage where either the pollen or nectar from it meets the bees requirement in terms of forage ... you should get a good crop of plums this year !

Spot on. They know what they like.

I can stand under the tree and listen to it buzz.

 

[AndyTh]

It's a lovely day here...so the morning was spent clearing horse droppings from one of the paddocks. Whilst we were busy one of our neighbours came into his field on his grizzly...we see him daily tending his stock but are usually too far away to wave...and he wears ear defenders too.
Anyway...he stopped to say hello.....we have only been here two years...acceptance at last I thought!
During our chat it transpired his wife keeps bees too...yay a local beekeeper. More exciting though we discovered he planted 250 apple trees a few years ago for his cider business. Just over the bank in one of his fields. Which is why we hadn't spotted them.
How about that....how lucky are we? My spring honey last year has willow, OSR and top fruit...guess where the top fruit came from?
Has anyone else discovered secret forage?

I've lived here 19 years and have roamed extensively the fields and woodlands within a 1.5 mile radius of the apiary, and it's always nice to make new discoveries. Being proactive, I'm planting 200 borage seeds in uncultivated field corners, road verges and derelict land to encourage a bit more local diversity. If they grow, the bees will get a bit more variety in the area (mainly arable), if they don't then so be it. I've also in the past rescued seedlings of plum, sycamore and willow growing in my garden and transplanted them in the roadside verges where once were damson trees. Every little helps!

 

[AndyTh]

D of E is good for the kids and it's good that town folk get out into the countryside; fill their lungs with all that fresh air.
It's when they move there that the trouble starts

I have the D of E scheme to thank for starting beekeeping in 1970. One part of the Bronze award then involved "taking up a new hobby or activity" - never looked back since. Wonder what got others started in beekeeping (I can sense a request for a poll to find out!)

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Ooo the scent of the plum tree is quite heady nice to see it being pollinated