LimeWatch UK

[madasafish]

Flowers startlingly well-developed on some trees around me, with the mini-buds formed so maybe one week from opening. And I saw some blackberry in flower yesterday. June gap?!

June Gap?

Not for us living more than 100 miles N of you.. Hawthorn just in flower.

 

[maddydog]

June Gap?

Not for us living more than 100 miles N of you.. Hawthorn just in flower.

July gap maybe. Blackberry nowhere near but the hawthorne is looking stunning. Long hard winter has killed the pests and provided lots of moisture?

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

July gap maybe. Blackberry nowhere near but the hawthorne is looking stunning. Long hard winter has killed the pests and provided lots of moisture?

Yes ours is just going over but I have never in 60 years seen a display like it. And it was a fine flow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Gap

 

[Dodge]

Hope Lime is not flowering soon as fields are still full of OSR in Warwickshire. Hoped for OSR to be gone so i can get a seperate flow of Lime and garden Honey.

 

[enrico]

If your lime is opening now then you are in for perfect conditions, humid is what you want for a nectar flow
I am still a couple of weeks off unfortunately
E

 

[beeno]

If your lime is opening now then you are in for perfect conditions, humid is what you want for a nectar flow
I am still a couple of weeks off unfortunately
E

Me too. Buds are only just forming.

 

[Insy]

Bit naive but how do you know when lime is ready? anyone got any pictures on what to look for?

 

[mintmoth]

Lime in flower, lime going to seed, and lime in bud

 

[mintmoth]

When the flowers are fully open, you should be able to smell the scent.

 

[Roola]

Every year I pray that the lime comes good but so far not much... Brambles are the mainstay of the summer, hope they don't let us down.

 

[Insy]

got the odd bramble flower open wont be long before explodes, lime here is in bud so doubt it will be long also.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Anyone know what the bright orange stuff this bee has on her back? Pollen was bright orange in the baskets and there were about 10 bees in that I seen like that.

 

[Eyeman]

got the odd bramble flower open wont be long before explodes, lime here is in bud so doubt it will be long also.

I've also seen a few brambles opening. As the hawthorn still has a week to run you better get those supers ready as it looks like there isn't gong to be a 'June gap' this year.

 

[Minxpinx]

The lime walk near us was pollarded 5 years ago and we’ve had no flowers since. Anyone know when I can expect them again? We used to get so much honey from them.

 

[Madge]

Anyone know what the bright orange stuff this bee has on her back? ...

Gorse (or Whin).

 

[enrico]

The lime walk near us was pollarded 5 years ago and we’ve had no flowers since. Anyone know when I can expect them again? We used to get so much honey from them.

Only takes a couple of years usually unless the cut them back every year

 

[Minxpinx]

It was a brutal cut back, no sign of buds yet this year...

 

[Swarm]

Are you sure about that, Enrico? Just down the road from me are thirteen Limes and they were thinned, pruned, cut back, who knows what the so called arborists were actually trying to achieve. A butchered mess is what they left but at least they were not pollarded. It's three years since the hack and slash and still no blossom, trees are going to concentrate on growth first.
Sorry to say, Minxpinx but I'm guessing they will be allowed a few years growth before the canopy is removed again.
Get in touch with your local authority and ask what they are playing at. Explain their importance for pollinators. Probably has something to do with spent blossom being a slip hazard

 

[enrico]

Limes are famous for being pollarded in avenues, by pollarded I mean all the limbs cut off to the main frame of the tree which usually then grows like mad. If the main trunks are cut then that would be a different matter. Usually the pollarding is done to produce a continuous avenue of head height branches that almost touch.
I may be wrong about how long it takes to flower so keep an eye on it and let me know!
Didn't mean to mislead but the tree opposite us had branches cut back and the young growth is flowering again within two years
E

 

[enrico]

Just been to monticute house (national trust) the biggest avenue of the biggest lime trees I have ever seen and they don't have bees on the site. Just a bit too far away for me to take them nearby but wow, there must be hundreds of pounds of honey. All the conditions are right this year and it is right on the verge of opening!