Gardens of Suburbia : Forage month by month

[NickDub]

Looks like the Hawthorne blossom will be out here before the end of April - lots of buds visible. Weather cold and damp though - ho hum.

 

[For want of a better word]

I was in Plymouth City* yesterday.. the wildflower roundabouts so expensively planted up... are covered in dandelions!

* Nearest I wish to go near civilised suburbis???

Yeghes da

 

[Tom Jay]

Walking around the garden, here in sunny but windy rural Bedfordshire

the bees are going mad on the amelanchier, looks to be just pollen, a very pale yellow. I have 3 planted close together and they are covered in bees. A real buzz of noise!!!!

I didn't know this plant so I looked it up in Kirk and Howes 'Plants for Bees'. They say, "While the blossoms may be visited for pollen they do not appear to be especially attractive to bees ... "

Perhaps they need to revise that, Helen!

They also mention that the Juneberries are edible. Do you harvest yours?

 

[Canary Honey]

**** is just coming out and is popular
http://tinyurl.com/z4ks3os
Kind of cold today to be straying far from the hive.

 

[Tom Jay]

Bluebells. I was surprised to see my bees working all day on a patch of bluebells while there were several other options in the same patch notably lots of dandelions in full splendour. Certainly dandelion pollen is coming in in huge quantity but they seem to be going further for it.

Still the wild cherry - what a long season for those several varieties.

Tree flower buds just on the cusp around here: Sycamore, Holly, May. Sycamore especially seems to have a huge weight of flower buds.

Plum is mostly over, Apple buds getting pink. I've gooseberries in flower but not seen a honeybee on it yet. I think they're spoilt for choice.

 

[Robbo8916]

Mine are on dandelions in the next door neighbours overgrown garden.

Pear trees are in bloom in the bees' own garden and they are also piling in pollen from beech, sycamore and the large patch of bluebells in the front.

Willow is dwindling now but they have been on that for a while now.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Our pear blossom is out, the apple is going to be open in not many days but what are the bees doing - going like a train on next doors dandelions!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Our pear blossom is out, the apple is going to be open in not many days but what are the bees doing - going like a train on next doors dandelions!

A couple of pics of the dandelions

 

[alldigging]

A couple of pics of the dandelions

Our allotment has tons of dandelions around the edges this year. Someone's going to have to collect up the seed to stop it getting worse .. and then what if it accidentally got dropped nearby on a huge empty bit of land?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Our allotment has tons of dandelions around the edges this year. Someone's going to have to collect up the seed to stop it getting worse .. and then what if it accidentally got dropped nearby on a huge empty bit of land?

I couldn't possibly comment minister

 

[Robbo8916]

Our pear blossom is out, the apple is going to be open in not many days but what are the bees doing - going like a train on next doors dandelions!

The apple trees are the same, very close to blossoming. Didn't see much dandelion coming in today but the two sycamores and the beech tree across the road were literally buzzing with the little ladies.

They seem to be ignoring the dandelions in favour of the trees today, still the odd dandy girl coming in but not as many as thursday.

 

[Erichalfbee]

The apple trees are the same, very close to blossoming. Didn't see much dandelion coming in today but the two sycamores and the beech tree across the road were literally buzzing with the little ladies.

They seem to be ignoring the dandelions in favour of the trees today, still the odd dandy girl coming in but not as many as thursday.

I've only ever heard my bees on our garden Beeches once. The trees were humming for days. I thought they were after honeydew.

 

[Tom Jay]

Beech?

Not listed in my forage books. I've googled it and find that Beech is a good source of resin for propolis. Is that what your bees are doing on beech?

 

[Tom Jay]

Cherry - ornamental single blossom, and wild cherry:

I first posted about foraging on an ornamental cherry tree near my hives on 1st March. and here we are ten weeks later with no break from various cherries,and single flower cherry blossom is still attracting them. A real boon for the early season for me around here!

 

[Robbo8916]

Beech?

Not listed in my forage books. I've googled it and find that Beech is a good source of resin for propolis. Is that what your bees are doing on beech?

It might well be but they are all over it. They're piling in pollen from the sycamores and I think still the last of the willow. I guess they know what they're doing even if I haven't got a clue...

 

[BeeJayBee]

Beech?

Not listed in my forage books. I've googled it and find that Beech is a good source of resin for propolis. Is that what your bees are doing on beech?

Honey bees are on the flowers in next door's beech tree, collecting pollen. Picture of flowers http://www.arkive.org/beech/fagus-sylvatica/image-A8074.html

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks for that BJB
I never knew they used the flowers. I can see the three trees outside, covered in those flowers but no bees. Blooming things have been dropping brown bud husks that get everywhere.... then the garden will be covered in beech mast and seedlings popping up all over....then I shall spend all autumn sweeping their leaves and dodging falling branches in the wind.

I found out as well that bees collect oak tree pollen.

Both of these presumably if there is nothing else about

We have acres of dandelion

 

[Eyeman]

Hi
This tree is in flower just about everywhere. Lime green bunches of flowers. I think it's a prunus. Any idea of the variety?


Just found its name:
Field Maple Tree (Acer campestre).

 

[Obee1]

I'm up in Islington London this weekend - walked into central London yesterday. Even someone as unobservant as me can't fail to spot that the trees here are in full blossom - way ahead of my very urban city centre home in South Wales. And boy is London leafy and beautiful in the spring. I see now why the London beeks on here are reporting colonies making swarm preps so much earlier than the rest of us in the uk.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Hi
This tree is in flower just about everywhere. Lime green bunches of flowers. I think it's a prunus. Any idea of the variety?
View attachment 12978

Just found its name:
Field Maple Tree (Acer campestre).

Check again when the leaves have opened, because A. campestre flowers at the same time as the leaves are opening, and there are no signs of leaves in your picture.