HB conspicious by absence?

[Into the lions den]

Have 100 nucs sitting on HB, vast stands of it along both banks of the River Isla. Was as reliable as anything up to about three years ago and then has gone very uncertain. This season there is NOTHING coming from it so far and we are having to give the nucs a weekly litre of feed.

However, this has happened before and then one day the HB seems to turn on, and thats the bees happy for the rest of its flowering period. Last year was just the same.

HB needs plenty water to do its best as its a totally watery plant. It also needs to have had sufficient sun on its back during its growing season. The temperature at actual flowering appears to be of more limited relevance. All the dud HB years have fallen in the year (now four in a row) when we have had no good weather at all up here in June, in fact its seven years since any good June weather, and July has been rubbish for most of those as well, including the last four in a row. Some decent weather during flowering seems to raise the plant sugars enough and it turns on. If this is the case it should be better in western and southern areas this year, but anywhere north of the Wash up the east will be off to a slow start. Eastern Scotland has had a nightmare year. Last year was the worst in living memory apparently (though I think they forget 1985) and it has been followed by one thats even worse.

Weather so bad I even had to change venues for the heather event we hosted yesterday as the access track had both flooded and had about half a metre of mud washed into it as a result of water running down ruts made by timber extractors removing fallen trees (storm damage), and deposting a sea of peat mud mix about 50 metres across all over the access track. It was fine on Thursday! I was up checking all was well for the day and got in and out no bother. Heaven knows how we will get THOSE out in September.............

 

[lilybetbee]

New bee, Could somebody please tell me what HB Is.

Himalayan balsam

 

[Into the lions den]

FWIW I just had a quick look at some maps on a weather site, special ref to June and July climate...............if the theories are right HB should be working well from Glasgow and Argyll down the west of the UK as far as the Channel, and along the south to Kent. East of the Pennines should be more problematical, as possibly would be the deep SW of England and western South Wales. HB central, where the conditions are right would be from the Britol Channel, up through east Wales and North Wales to Cumbria.........Lancs, Cheshire, Staffs especially.

 

[protheroe]

inspected hives yesterday and theres creamy stripes through all the hives.Very large ammounts of pollen coming in but nectar seems very slow

 

[ShaneR]

Nearest balsam that I know of to my hives is about 2 miles, not seeing any signs of the balsam mark but they are on a nectar flow at the moment and bringing loads in, not exactly sure where from though

 

[dickndoris]

They were working it yesterday and when I went out before work this morning at 8am they were coming in looking like punk rockers! The local common (Strensall common) is full of heather blossom. So tempted to put a couple of hives there this evening and try for some cut comb. Maybe a little too close to the Apiary........

 

[Ely]

I've been surprised by the very little nectar brought in during this fine weather. Not huge colonies though.

 

[johnandyrob]

For several reasons I didnt take my bees to the heather this year and Im having to feed some of them. The six hives I am currently looking after for some one are 5 miles away and going mad on HB

 

[Salamagundy]

It's been around here for a few weeks and my bees didn't seem to be interested - but the last few days they've been going bonkers for it - not really a golden throng but white specks darting to and from the hive - it's like being in a blizzard

Only two of my hives seem to have found it (or chosen to concentrate on it) one (a prime swarm which is going like a train) with a blizzard in front of the entrance. No white stripes going into the other four hives but there's plenty of other stuff.

Slightly off-thread, perhaps, but any comments from more experienced beeks about variable foraging within an apiary?

 

[Into the lions den]

Slightly off-thread, perhaps, but any comments from more experienced beeks about variable foraging within an apiary?

It does happen. I had 50 colonies on an heather site in Aberdeenshire one year, right beside a major chunk of prime moor. 48 worked the heather and brought in a decent crop. Two hives flew a mile and a half to a cover crop of mustard on a farm nearby, and also brought a decent crop............of white honey, not a cell of heather in the hives. Bummer, had to segregate it out and sell it for half the price of the heather.

 

[bee56]

Thank you lilybetbee.

 

[thorn]

They're hitting the HB in Headingley as if it's a replacement for Tetleys (ale, that is, not tea).

 

[Winker]

i have miles and miles of HB around me and the bees have been ignoring it and going for the brambles. We are around half way through the brambles flooring around here, but i now see that the ivy is about to flower too. So im guessing mine are ignoring the HB to stay with the brambles.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

mine are working it hard atm, first real flow this year

 

[Erichalfbee]

Lots of white backed bumbles in my garden

 

[victor meldrew]

Lots of white backed bumbles in my garden

Haven't transported any Balsam bashers with you then?
VM

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ha ha.....no, I managed to outrun them

 

[alysonmaria]

only had my bees a couple of months and thought a few of them were mouldy or had a bee disease that I had not heard of. Confirmed at my local BBKA apiary practical session that it is infact HB pollen

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

only had my bees a couple of months and thought a few of them were mouldy or had a bee disease that I had not heard of. Confirmed at my local BBKA apiary practical session that it is infact HB pollen

Went fishing this afternoon (river banks plastered with HB as compared to 5 years ago when we'd never seen it) not many honeybees in that area but the bumbles were so covered in pollen they were just flying blobs of white

 

[madasafish]

On my morning run over Congleton Edge, noted that HB has spread much more widely than in past years. Can only assume that the wet spring and summer here have created perfect conditions for germination of last year's broadcast seeds.