bees on countryfile now

[johna]

Humans have not had great experience with releasing things to get rid of other things. The Aussies are masters at it; the Cane Toad is a great example.

And I believe--Ned Kelly

 

[viridens]

Everything that flies loves knot weed, wasps, bees,hoverflies.etc.

VM

I inherited a patch of Japanese Knotweed about 25ft x 10ft alongside a lawn when I moved in. An interesting and decorative plant in most seasons of the year, and loved by my bees, but too invasive and it had to go. I decided to try to kill it off without the recommended savage weedkiller.
I dug out what I could in spring 2010, and I have been pulling up every shoot which surfaces since then weekly. It is still pushing up a few hundred each week, and still spreading outward across the lawn. I may still have to resort to weedkiller after all, but I hope not...
I also have Himalayan Balsam, which is a pussycat to control compared to the knotweed.

 

[For want of a better word]

Glyphosphate.... manufactured by my most favorit chemical poison company Monsanto is a very effective and about the only way to kill Japanese Knotweed....
Roundup contains glyphosphate.. just don't let it get into a watercourse, the results are catastrophic, unfortunately the invasive knotweed loves to grow on stream and river banks!

Even the smallest bit of root can spring into a new plant!

As for the Giant Hogweed...... evil plant... Was it GENESIS wot wrote a song about it... The march of the Giant Hogweed ???

 

[Mike a]

Humans have not had great experience with releasing things to get rid of other things. The Aussies are masters at it; the Cane Toad is a great example.

Look who is laughing now after they sent us Dame Edna Everage, all the ozzie soaps and plenty more television garbage besides.... I was going to include Rolf Harris but he was entertaining until he started to sing. His worst crime was doing a cover of Stairway to Heaven.

 

[stilllearning]

just watched it on i player......meddling with nature..bad news.
Up here where i am i get very little, if any, balsam so doesn't really effect me......yet. however i was talking to a commercial guy not long ago who farms in an area full of the stuff and when i asked about how much of his crop was down to balsam he replied at least 25%...now THAT is significant so no wonder beekeepers near the stuff don't want it destroyed
nice boat by the way.....you can tell he doesn't make a living out of bees

 

[greatbritishhoney]

The local Wildlife Trust here has regular "Balsam bashing" days at this time of year.
It's a mixed blessing for me because it allows me to supply them with loads of volunteers (that's my day job), but the balsam they are bashing is within range of my bees.

 

[iball]

I should keep up with the thread

Ian

 

[alanf]

I inherited a patch of Japanese Knotweed about 25ft x 10ft alongside a lawn when I moved in. An interesting and decorative plant in most seasons of the year, and loved by my bees, but too invasive and it had to go. I decided to try to kill it off without the recommended savage weedkiller.
I dug out what I could in spring 2010, and I have been pulling up every shoot which surfaces since then weekly. It is still pushing up a few hundred each week, and still spreading outward across the lawn. I may still have to resort to weedkiller after all, but I hope not

Japanese knotweed will continue to grow. Chances of eliminating an established patch that big by a) picking out all the plant pieces and b) disposing of them such that it won't regenerate are so close to zero as to not be be worth considering. Don't forget that the longer it's there, the more chance it has of getting outside your boundaries and completely beyond your control.

Glyphosate is widely used by wildlife trusts and conservation charities for knotweed. They make an exception even though using chemicals is against their normal practice. It's out of patent, a non-branded version will work as well as the Monsanto Roundup version whatever you think of the corporation. It really is the path of least damage. Beyond glyphosate your only alternative is a complete weedkiller like sodium chlorate.

At the end of August a good spray on all the foliage will be absorbed by the leaves and kill down to the roots. Many people make the mistake of hacking it back earlier. Leave it, more leaves equals more spray absorbed and greater chance of a kill. Respray if you think there's a chance rain has washed it off or if it still shows signs of life into September but don't try cutting and burning the dead stuff back until mid winter.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

As for the Giant Hogweed...... evil plant... Was it GENESIS wot wrote a song about it... The march of the Giant Hogweed ???

Close, it was the Return of the Giant Hogweed. Had forgotten all about it, great song from when Genesis were good

Turn and run!
Nothing can stop them,
Around every river and canal their power is growing.
Stamp them out!
We must destroy them,
They infiltrate each city with their thick dark warning odour.

They are invincible,
They seem immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Long ago in the Russian hills,
A Victorian explorer found the regal Hogweed by a marsh,
He captured it and brought it home.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
He came home to London,
And made a present of the Hogweed to the Royal Gardens at Kew.

Waste no time!
They are approaching.
Hurry now, we must protect ourselves and find some shelter
Strike by night!
They are defenceless.
They all need the sun to photosensitize their venom.

Still they're invincible,
Still they're immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Fashionable country gentlemen had some cultivated wild gardens,
In which they innocently planted the Giant Hogweed throughout the land.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
Soon they escaped, spreading their seed,
Preparing for an onslaught, threatening the human race.

The Dance Of The Giant Hogweed


Mighty Hogweed is avenged.
Human bodies soon will know our anger.
Kill them with your Hogweed hairs
HERACLEUM MANTEGAZZIANI


Giant Hogweed lives

 

[madasafish]

I have read all this stuff about HB killing all other plants. It's strange that round here HB co-exists with brambles and nettles on waste ground and has done so for at least a decade. And grows under trees where nothing much else grows.

I treat the comments as true but exaggerated. If those who want to preserve our environment were really serious, they would target wild rhododendrons which smother all other plants and leave the soil so acid that nothing grows.

In my view, they may largely be people looking for a cause so they can get money to spend so they are kept in a job. 'Cos there are lots of better causes...like rhodies as above.. And Hogweed - as above and Japanese knotweed - as above...

 

[Swarm]

Close, it was the Return of the Giant Hogweed. Had forgotten all about it, great song from when Genesis were good

Yup, from Nursery Cryme 1971, when Gabriel was there.

Unfortunately, as VEG has already mentioned, not enough emphasis was placed on reliability of some colonies on Himalayan Balsam. The show portrayed the beekeeping argument as liking the plant because they can win first prize at honey shows rather than a reliable nectar source in areas where there is little else. Opportunity missed.

 

[victor meldrew]

Yup, from Nursery Cryme 1971, when Gabriel was there.

Unfortunately, as VEG has already mentioned, not enough emphasis was placed on reliability of some colonies on Himalayan Balsam. The show portrayed the beekeeping argument as liking the plant because they can win first prize at honey shows rather than a reliable nectar source in areas where there is little else. Opportunity missed.

The colour of the honey makes me suspect the majority isn't balsam ,also balsam doesn't impart any medicinal taste to honey in my opinion

VM

 

[Swarm]

The colour of the honey makes me suspect the majority isn't balsam ,also balsam doesn't impart any medicinal taste to honey in my opinion

VM

Can't say I've tasted a hint of cough sweets.

 

[grim610]

Yup, from Nursery Cryme 1971, when Gabriel was there.

Unfortunately, as VEG has already mentioned, not enough emphasis was placed on reliability of some colonies on Himalayan Balsam. The show portrayed the beekeeping argument as liking the plant because they can win first prize at honey shows rather than a reliable nectar source in areas where there is little else. Opportunity missed.

Four and a half hours filming for two minutes of footage. During filming the emphasis was placed on how vital HB is where there is no alternative source of nectar during the summer months but the BBC chose that which was shown. Can win first prize at a Honey Show? Yes, at least it shows the benefits, quality and significance over other nectar sources. The opportunity was not missed, the opportunity was taken to highlight the benefits of HB at least rather than it being shown just as an invasive plant.

 

[stilllearning]

Four and a half hours filming for two minutes of footage. During filming the emphasis was placed on how vital HB is where there is no alternative source of nectar during the summer months but the BBC chose that which was shown.

been there done that
and still there are people that believe everything thats written in newspapers, or said on telly

 

[stilllearning]

Four and a half hours filming for two minutes of footage. During filming the emphasis was placed on how vital HB is where there is no alternative source of nectar during the summer months but the BBC chose that which was shown.

and still people believe whats said on the news or written in the papers

 

[stilllearning]

christ what happened there ??? best keep off the pop am pressing the wrong buttons

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Glyphosphate.... manufactured by my most favorit chemical poison company Monsanto is a very effective and about the only way to kill Japanese Knotweed....
Roundup contains glyphosphate.. just don't let it get into a watercourse, the results are catastrophic, unfortunately the invasive knotweed loves to grow on stream and river banks!

Even the smallest bit of root can spring into a new plant!

As for the Giant Hogweed...... evil plant... Was it GENESIS wot wrote a song about it... The march of the Giant Hogweed ???

Spray Glyphosate in September and the knotweed takes it down to the roots much better, I've used it on stands ten feet or so high on the riverbanks in the past and it's wiped it out completely in one attempt. You have to use a pretty strong solution though (the preparatory stuff you buy in garden centres isn't much good) I get mine from the farmer's coop - it's cheaper in the long run as you don't use as much

 

[VEG]

Spray Glyphosate in September and the knotweed takes it down to the roots much better, I've used it on stands ten feet or so high on the riverbanks in the past and it's wiped it out completely in one attempt. You have to use a pretty strong solution though (the preparatory stuff you buy in garden centres isn't much good) I get mine from the farmer's coop - it's cheaper in the long run as you don't use as much

I hope you dont get caught using it near water ways at your increased dose.

 

[flytrapman]

A bug was introduced last year to help eradicate japanese knotweed after extensive field trials, havnt heard any feedback
It is more succesfull to inject the glyphosate into the stems than spraying foliage
BTCV have balsam bashing events in the North West
I have large stand of balsam growing on and around my allotment and have always cut it down before I got my bees, but I now have mixed feelings on what to do with it