Gardens of Suburbia : Forage month by month

[Erichalfbee]

Himalayan Balsam out by the river here

 

[NickDub]

several bees on a small patch of Rose of Sharon in my garden - I hadn't realised it was that popular - bright, dark orange pollen

 

[Eyeman]

Hairy willow herb just out

 

[Eyeman]

Chestnut in flower. Smell reminiscent of ivy.
N.B. I'm in Rotterdam

 

[Robbo8916]

Just been up to check the horses. Balsam just starting to flower here. And man there is a LOT of it!

 

[Tom Jay]

Parsnip!
We lost a whole row of parsnips in weeds last year, and forgot they were there through the winter. So we decided to leave them to shoot up. Wow! Easily eight foot tall, abundant feathery flower heads, and my honey bees on it in good number for nearly two weeks now It's the nectar they go for. Bumbles not interested, though a few wasps are.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Himalayan Balsam out by the river here

it's out all over the place here - gets earlier every year

 

[deanrpwaacs]

Would anyone name this for me . Took a stroll over the road and found it all around the rape fields .

bees all over it . Lots of bumbles too .

 

[GaryB]

Looks like Phacelia (aka Scorpionweed). Think it's related to Borage. Bees go nuts for it.

 

[Firefly]

Looks like Phacelia (aka Scorpionweed). Think it's related to Borage. Bees go nuts for it.

Yanks call it fiddleneck - obvious why from this photo

 

[tonel]

Definately Phacelia - grew a patch on the allotment last year, bees loved it (although seemed more popular with bumbles than honeybees). Think it's used as green manure.

 

[NickDub]

Mowed my "lawn" today - usually leave it a bit longer for the white clover but this year the bees don't seem interested - presumably the bramble is keeping them busy.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Lots of Meadowsweet out (it must be high summer....not)
Bees are coming home with green pollen

 

[Millet]

Lots of Meadowsweet out (it must be high summer....not)
Bees are coming home with green pollen

The meadow sweet is just starting here, they will be the odd vase full of the stuff placed around the cottage, it smells lovely.
On another note i'm sure a old beek told me it does not produce much nectar if at all any.

 

[Erichalfbee]

No nectar but the bees do bring in the pollen.
It does smell heavenly. Next time you're near some taste it
As recommended by Ray Mears
It's OK it's not poisonous

 

[Tom Jay]

The humble Snowberry. The flowers seem to be no less attractive for all the poor weather conditions. I guess the Bramble is getting washed out. Masses of flower and nothing, not even bumbles, seem interested.

Further on the Parsnip. It's been in flower three weeks. Yesterday I counted thirty honey bees on it, just this one short row of roots we forgot to lift in the winter.

 

[Millet]

Here is some of the forage on offer around here at the moment, the scottish thistles and teasel are not far from flowering either.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Balsam out here but only bumbles on it. I go down to the bees every day looking for white spots

 

[Tom Jay]

Delightful pics, Millet! Cheers!

Here in the lovely Tyne valley ... THEY'RE ON THE LIME AT LAST!
With it having been such an iffy season for the Lime trees, thick with un-opened flower heads for three weeks, it's interesting to see how that has spoilt it for some trees and the flowers have opened brown, while others are bright and creamy green and pollinators spending a long time on each flower.

Others things around here: snowberry is for ever, thistle has begun, and there is so much good nectar around that the honey bees are totally ignoring the Brambles and leaving that to the bumbles and hover flies.

A fallow field on the edge of the village is ablaze with red poppies, and my last inspection of hives showed copious quantities of that blue-black pollen stored.

 

[Robbo8916]

There is definitely a flow on here.

Blackberry, thistle and BALSAM!!! Woohoo. Last couple of days started seeing the first few ghost bees coming in. They're on it big time.

From being really light on stores and needing feeding last week to bringing everything they possibly can in.

A real mixture of weird and wonderful colours coming in pollen wise.