Bees and apples

[MJBee]

I was clearing up the windfall apples today and all the ones that the birds had hollowed out were being worked by my bees. I have not seen this before, wasps hornets and flies yes but never bees.

It is an eating apple so I suppose they are using the sugar content of the juice.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Could be after the water.

 

[Firefly]

My hives are in an orchard with 20+ apple trees and lots of windfalls. They completely ignore them

They are also beside a stream, which supports the water hypothesis

Last year (less so this year) the ones that were partly hollowed by birds/wasps were stuffed full of yellow ladybirds - could be 30 or 40 per apple!

 

[mexbigshow]

My hives are in an orchard with 20+ apple trees and lots of windfalls. They completely ignore them

They are also beside a stream, which supports the water hypothesis

Last year (less so this year) the ones that were partly hollowed by birds/wasps were stuffed full of yellow ladybirds - could be 30 or 40 per apple!

same with mine placed in orchard and completely ignore

 

[Midland Beek]

Bees do not collect nectar ... they collect anything containing sugars. Fruit juices, cut sugar beet, sheep lick, etc.

 

[JamezF]

Last year (less so this year) the ones that were partly hollowed by birds/wasps were stuffed full of yellow ladybirds - could be 30 or 40 per apple!

That's positive, at least. I opened the door of the shed we keep the gardening tools in a month or so ago to find it covered with Harlequin ladybirds. I counted how many were in a small area and multiplied that figure up by the
total area covered and came up not far off a thousand. Whilst I appreciate having ladybirds in the garden, I also know how much damage the Harlequin is doing to our native species. I was very tempted to kill them all.

James

 

[Firefly]

That's positive, at least. I opened the door of the shed we keep the gardening tools in a month or so ago to find it covered with Harlequin ladybirds. I counted how many were in a small area and multiplied that figure up by the
total area covered and came up not far off a thousand. Whilst I appreciate having ladybirds in the garden, I also know how much damage the Harlequin is doing to our native species. I was very tempted to kill them all.

James

I was completely ignorant of this. Just read up a bit. Something else to lie awake at night and worry about

Thanks for posting

Seen many fewer this year, and have seen some native species

 

[Chris Luck]

I also know how much damage the Harlequin is doing to our native species. I was very tempted to kill them all.

You should have killed them, there's no point being soft about introduced species that cause harm to native species.

On topic. I've had bees feeding on figs as they ripen on the tree, pears and apples on the ground and it's clearly the sugars they are after.

Chris

 

[For want of a better word]

You should have killed them, there's no point being soft about introduced species that cause harm to native species.

On topic. I've had bees feeding on figs as they ripen on the tree, pears and apples on the ground and it's clearly the sugars they are after.

Chris

Wish I could get my figs to ripen on the tree!​

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Bees do not collect nectar ... they collect anything containing sugars. Fruit juices, cut sugar beet, sheep lick, etc.

You learn something new everyday.

How come they don't go for wasp traps etc? Is it just the sugar concentration perhaps?

 

[Storm™]

Wish I could get my figs to ripen on the tree!​

I don't know if you do this with your figs. What happens is thy grow once and do well. The. The next year they grow again but fail to ripen. If there are still some on the tree now, cut them off just below the base of the fig. A new one will form at the base in the spring and will ripen. If you don't you have this endless cycle of almost there then winter hits. So it's wasted energy on the plants part. Cut them off now and they should ripen earlier on next year. I had the same thing. Good luck.

 

[Chris Luck]

Ahhh, but I get two harvests a year, one in summer and one in autumn...

....and back on topic, the bees only go for fruit sugars when there is a lack of anything else available.

Chris

 

[oliver90owner]

How come they don't go for wasp traps etc?

They would if we were to put just sugar in them. But bees are not stupid where fermentation products are present? One wonders whether fermened honey kills bees (or whether they starve due to avoidance of the alcohol)? Anyone? Presumably they do use it as they tell us fermenting honey is toxic to the bees (so not to feed it back to them).

RAB

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Interesting. I will make a point of keeping an eye on what mine are taking an interest in.
I did hear from a beekeeper near me that his bees were taking a great interest in a trough of sheeps nuts earlier this year. He thought maybe it was the protein they were after.

 

[Midland Beek]

How come they don't go for wasp traps etc? Is it just the sugar concentration perhaps?

I think they would if you did not put some vinegar in.

 

[Chris Luck]

I put vinegar, (organic cider), in my syrup when I use it as a feed and the bees are very happy with it....

....well, they take it fast enough anyway.

Chris

 

[Hivemaker.]

I put vinegar, (organic cider), in my syrup when I use it as a feed and the bees are very happy with it....

....well, they take it fast enough anyway.

Chris

No problems with cider vinigar in syrup feed,alters the Ph of syrup, to be similar to that of honey.

 

[BILL.HEARD]

Have seen up to fifty Red Admiral butterflies taking sugar from windfalls, lovely sight.

 

[MuswellMetro]

You learn something new everyday.

How come they don't go for wasp traps etc? Is it just the sugar concentration perhaps?

They do ,this time of year, i have just removed all my traps for that reason now the wasps have nearly died out for the year


in the bad season we had this year my bees in one of my apiaries collected sugar from very ripe blackberries, a very dark thin honey that was like honeydew.

That was a first, so must just have been the lack of other sugar sources

 

[Travelator]

Here's a theory...

Even supposing that a bee was tempted by a wasp trap, she would duly get trapped and not have the opportunity to recruit other bees on to the same food source.

On the subject of apples and alcohol, Amos Root claims in his "ABC of Bee Culture" that he had terrible problems with bees stealing cider from a cider mill.

I was under the impression that bees are happy enough to eat fermented honey if nothing better is available, but it tends to give them dysentry which is annoying in the summer and often fatal in winter.