Heather

[Millet]

Not moorland heather but the heather you can get from garden centers that fill your borders with colour.
Is this kind of heather any good for bees nectar and pollen wise.

Sorry by the way Oliver RAB for not using the internet to do a search.

 

[dpearce4]

Not moorland heather but the heather you can get from garden centers that fill your borders with colour.
Is this kind of heather any good for bees nectar and pollen wise.

Sorry by the way Oliver RAB for not using the internet to do a search.

need every garden in a 3mile radius from you to have nothing but heather in it for it to be of any use what so ever. I think RAB was right lol

 

[Millet]

OK Thanks i am much more knowledgeable for that in-depth explanation, i salute you.

 

[dpearce4]

read some of those nice free books I put up then you wouldn't need to ask such a daft question would you.

 

[Millet]

read some of those nice free books I put up then you wouldn't need to ask such a daft question would you.

I was not going to reply but that is stupid bait. sleep tight.

 

[dpearce4]

not a bait at all. was just pointing out that if you had read something you wouldn't need to ask.

A bee forages for over 3 miles in all available directions so a small amount of plants in 1 garden does diddly squat in the great scheme of things. which is why those little packs of bee friendly seeds people buy are a pointless waste of money.

 

[mbc]

Every little helps and all that, I like to see ornamental heather borders smothered in bees at odd times of year, they wouldn't visit unless they were gettin owt.

 

[dpearce4]

**

 

[snelgrove]

I have a large clump of heather in my garden it is absolutely covered in honeybees from now until the rape flowers, bumbles like it also. It's nectar what they are gathering very little pollen off it from what I can tell.

 

[For want of a better word]

I have a large clump of heather in my garden it is absolutely covered in honeybees from now until the rape flowers, bumbles like it also. It's nectar what they are gathering very little pollen off it from what I can tell.

Is it bell or ling?

* We have been handing out packets of wildflower seeds to anyone and everyone, particularly the local school children for the last 10 years ...
Every charity give away of free wildflower seeds we can lay hands on!
Folk are lazy and do not bother to apply for a single pack of seeds as they also think there is no point in a single patch of wild flowers.... but every hedgerow and scrap of unloved ground around here is being seeded.... get the children to make flower bombs.... incredible what a community can do!

Yeghes da

 

[snelgrove]

Is it bell or ling?

* We have been handing out packets of wildflower seeds to anyone and everyone, particularly the local school children for the last 10 years ...
Every charity give away of free wildflower seeds we can lay hands on!
Folk are lazy and do not bother to apply for a single pack of seeds as they also think there is no point in a single patch of wild flowers.... but every hedgerow and scrap of unloved ground around here is being seeded.... get the children to make flower bombs.... incredible what a community can do!

Yeghes da

Ornamental variety , ling more like, white and purple, bees prefer the white. Even when dandelion and other bee friendly plants are flowering it's covered with honeybees. It's only when the rape flowers that they tend to become less interested.

 

[Millet]

Thank you everyone, even before i had my own bees we have been helping the bumble bee population, my lady friend and her sister who lives next door both have large cottage gardens which will add up to around 1/4 of a acre, both are all ready full of bee friendly flowers and shrubs, this year will have even more flowers as the game keeper give us a bucket full of wild flower seeds what he uses on the cover crops, i also scattered thousands of seeds from a plant that was covered in bees last year to go with the 1500 bulbs i planted, they will still be space so i was thinking of planting a patch of ornamental heather as it looks nice and if it has something to offer the bees that is a bonus.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Thank you everyone, even before i had my own bees we have been helping the bumble bee population, my lady friend and her sister who lives next door both have large cottage gardens which will add up to around 1/4 of a acre, both are all ready full of bee friendly flowers and shrubs, this year will have even more flowers as the game keeper give us a bucket full of wild flower seeds what he uses on the cover crops, i also scattered thousands of seeds from a plant that was covered in bees last year to go with the 1500 bulbs i planted, they will still be space so i was thinking of planting a patch of ornamental heather as it looks nice and if it has something to offer the bees that is a bonus.

Sounds lovely.... Milly baby

 

[Poly Hive]

Bee range

Hmm the three mile is oft quoted and I have seen reports of bees flying 7+ miles for water in the States but...

If the scouts return and to simplify say two of return. One dances saying 20% at half a mile adn the other says 12% at a mile who gets the business?

Bees will as far as I know only fly as far as it is efficient to do so and the only stupid question is the unasked one.

PH

 

[REDWOOD]

I have one apiary 1/2 a mile from a good heather source and still they refuse it for HB that is closer.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I always presumed heather was hard work and no pollen so a preference for HB is a no-brainer

 

[Poly Hive]

LOL no pollen? Ling heather honey is STUFFED with it which makes it not the best over wintering food.

If they are going for HB in preference then either the heather is useless, (is it a burnt moor?) or the HB is easier.

It's best to put the bees in the ferns on the moor. Ferns denote shelter.

PH

 

[Erichalfbee]

LOL no pollen? Ling heather honey is STUFFED with it which makes it not the best over wintering food.


PH

Thanks for correcting me.

 

[snelgrove]

LOL no pollen? Ling heather honey is STUFFED with it which makes it not the best over wintering food.

If they are going for HB in preference then either the heather is useless, (is it a burnt moor?) or the HB is easier.

It's best to put the bees in the ferns on the moor. Ferns denote shelter.

PH

Bees from the heather are best fed sugar syrup on there return where it will be stored for use during the early part of the winter. But the added pollen in heather honey is greatly beneficial in the spring build up.

 

[REDWOOD]

The two winter flowering ornamental Heather plants next to me have pollen and often see bees carrying loads away