Himalayan balsam

[kazmcc]

All this new stuff I am discovering! I have walked past it for years, I will have a new found respect for it now.

 

[victor meldrew]

I heard that the bank erosion caused by HB is problematic for water voles, which already are very low in numbers.

I think bank erosion caused by balsam is a fallacy .If anything it retards such erosion .
Bank erosion is at it's worse when a river/stream/brook is in full spate.
Bank side foliage acts as an attenuator !
The knowlegable authorities used to shave banks clean (called it river navigation) to get the water flowing quickly (to alleviate flooding HA!) They introduced dual drainage systems which resulted in even more water rushing down the rivers which inevitably jumped the banks at low points .
Now major civil engineering is going on all over the country , constructing huge reservoirs to relieve pressure on the waterways ,this water to be pumped back into the system in a controlled manner!.
Guess what ? they call these reservoirs "Attenuators".
Er!, the vegetation managed that and provided food for the water vole etc. Released Mink, by the animal freedom brigade did far more damage to the water vole than any balsam is likely to .
Having built these "Attenuators" one would think ,the contents could be utilised instead of having hose pipe bans in one of the wettest areas in the UK.
Joined up thinking Wazatt?

John Wilkinson

 

[Onge]

Is this HB? the green bits looks like it but the flowers a white with the faintest hint of pink. Thought they were supposed to be dark pink.

Sorry for the crap quality photo.

--

 

[MuswellMetro]

yes there is a white variant

http://www.ayrshireriverstrust.org/invasive-weeds.htm

i have found a large amount on the river lee, north london...but is is miles from my bees. The london suburbs seem to inhibit the transmission down the rivers and brooks....probalbely sterile areas it can't grow in..so only the main rivers haveit, not the flash flood stream and brooks that almost dry out in summer...like this summer

 

[kazmcc]

Looks like it. The balsam near me is a lighter pink too, think it comes in all pink shades. Remember it being dark pink up in Ashton when I was a kid, used to pop it all the time, try and hit each other with them. Pretty sure that's it though Onge.

 

[aberreef]

I think bank erosion caused by balsam is a fallacy .If anything it retards such erosion .
Bank erosion is at it's worse when a river/stream/brook is in full spate.
Bank side foliage acts as an attenuator !

The trouble with HB is that it is an annual plant so dies off in winter, roots too. Due to it overcrowding other plants the bank becomes bare earth during the period of heaviest rainfall, leading to increased erosion.

Its very pertty though

 

[MuswellMetro]

The trouble with HB is that it is an annual plant so dies off in winter, roots too. Due to it overcrowding other plants the bank becomes bare earth during the period of heaviest rainfall, leading to increased erosion.

Its very pertty though

in london all the drives and tarmac means we no longer have small brook and streams, they are all truning into flash flood gulleys and are getting deeper

HB doesnt seem the like the arid then wet habitat this has created

i have found the main slow river covereed in it ,but nothing upstream on what were are large rivers in streams. the main culverts and covered drains also seem to stop transmission of seeds

 

[oliver90owner]

kazmcc

think it comes in all pink shades.

Variation may be due to differing pH? Or the particular minerals available in each particular soil?

Regards, RAB

 

[victor meldrew]

I see you have Buddleia, pity honey bees rarely visit
The orange globe variety of Buddleia is loved by honeybees

John Wilkinson

 

[Tom Bick]

Buddleia is everywhere around me at the moment in West London and yes the common purpled spiked Buddleia is no good for bees butterflys love it but not bees.

I have not seen the orange globe variety John but I understand the white Buddleia is also good for bees.

 

[BeeNice]

Sheffield area, loads of the stuff, all along the river banks and any damp area. A whole field of it between my hives which are around 2 miles apart. Seen bright yellow and pale greyish pollen going in, is the greyish stuff Himalayan then?

 

[kazmcc]

is the greyish stuff Himalayan then?

So the pollen guides say. I am originally from Ashton Under Lyne, and the stuff grew everywhere when I was a child. The canals running through the town were lined with it. Maybe they prefer the damp norther climate.

Thanks for the info re PH levels, you learn something new every day

 

[Tom Bick]

Thought this Himalayan Balsam was going to pass me by or at least that’s what I thought.
Just went to remove two supers of my hive and the bees going mad with half of the returning bees looking as though they have white mohicans so checked the small stream on the way back to the workshop and plenty of it at the bridge it will be interesting to see how far it extends.

 

[slider955i]

not flowering here yet in stourbridge

 

[Gardenbees]

The canal in Stroud has both the bushy, invasive Himalayan balsam and its relative Jewelweed (the slim, attractive Orange Balsam, Impatiens capensis, with bright orange flowers). Both are in full flower. My bees soon discovered them both, and I see them busily foraging all along the canalside every time I walk past. Like the photo in this thread, they come back with telltale off-white pollen - like bee dandruff!

The HB flowering season is quite long; ours started in mid-July and are still going strong. As an ecologist I have to say that it would be best not to encourage it - it's a real invasive thug and actually illegal to introduce into the wild or cause to spread. Thousands of pounds are spent on HB control every year as it is so damaging to native waterside flora - a shame, because it really is a great nectar plant. The honey's nice, too.

For some reason Jewelweed isn't such an invasive menace as its big purple cousin, so if any other beeks want to encourage balsam I'd recommend that one. It's packed with nectar and a lot less trouble.

 

[bunbury]

A good proportion of my bees are coming in like moths with their heads and thorax covered in grey white pollen. In fact as they drop down you can see them heading for the hive from a longer distance than usual. At a meeting last night of the Shropshire BKA mention was made of HB. I had never heard of it before so now I know a lot more.
I am 3/4 mile from the Severn river so an expedition is to be mounted to see this plant!

 

[Arfermo]

Himalayan Balsam is most common where there is a significant amount of water - a river bank. I've got a stream on the boundary of my garden but there is not a sign of any being foraged by my lot yet, but they went mad on it last year right at the point in time when I wanted to treat with Apiguard. This year the ladies have excelled themselves so I am about to remove all the supers and treat them and when they forage for HB, as they will, they will have to eat it themselves.

 

[kazmcc]

A good proportion of my bees are coming in like moths with their heads and thorax covered in grey white pollen. In fact as they drop down you can see them heading for the hive from a longer distance than usual. At a meeting last night of the Shropshire BKA mention was made of HB. I had never heard of it before so now I know a lot more.
I am 3/4 mile from the Severn river so an expedition is to be mounted to see this plant!

Welcome Bunbury It might be an idea to put your location on your profile, so people get an idea where you are. Although you've mentioned Shropshire, people will forget ( well, I will lol )

I didn't know what HB was either, and I used to play in the stuff as a kid, popping it at my friends. Seems our bees are snuffling in this, loads of it by the stream running through the allotments where they live. I love the way the seedheads pop when ripe, all you have to do is touch them

Karen

 

[gregnut]

There is no doubt that HB is a problem for our native riverside plants. It crowds them out - in many places along local riversides there is nothing but HB, very pretty but low in biodiversity.
It's also an excellent nectar source. Here in South Wales we have masses of it, and it keeps going right through into October, which creates a bit of a problem with the Apiguard treatment. For the last couple of years, I have left extraction until late September - round here it is still warm enough (usually) to use Apiguard successfully at this time.

The other day I watched a bee feeding on HB. It went in and out of several flowers, but did not get dusted with pollen. Obviously if you see bees with the white stripe, they have been feeding on HB, but if they don't have the stripe, they may still have been feeding on it! It probably depends on the maturity of the anthers whether they get the dusting.
Greg

 

[bunbury]

I duly looked at the Severn and the tributary the Reabrook and found masses of HB and lots of bees enjoying it. I watched the bees going into the flowers headfirst, as normal, then on the way out they do a "U turn" and emerge. Because they are entering a long tube it is now apparent as to the reason they come home covered in whiteish/grey pollen.
q.e.d.!