OSR to Gorse

[meetballuk]

well the field of osr i was eyeing up for my hives just got ploughed. but when i went to visit the rents i noticed theres buckloads of gorse in flower. is gorse worth a move to get my two hives going?
p.s there no need for weekly inspections yet? as there not round corner

 

[dclewis]

If not mistaken you only get pollen from gorse , no nectar, bit like poppies.

 

[meetballuk]

Good to know, just have to wait for season to start hear

 

[Into the lions den]

p.s there no need for weekly inspections yet? as there not round corner

Absolutely no need. Although we are later we NEVER break comb (open the nest) until into April, and even then only on warm days. Weekly (actually 9 or 10 day is what we try to do) inspections are only necessary once you have reason to do so. Right now they are best left largely undisturbed.

I cringe at the opening of the nest so early and wonder how many of those colonies will suffer badly from it. Patience is a virtue.

 

[oliver90owner]

Agree with ITLD, but not on the fixed date - there were swarms reported in late March last year?

Inspections, yes, maybe and when appropriate, but weekly? Not a chance. An inspection will tell you whether they might swarm (ie need motre inspections) or if there is only a very remote possibility of a swarm; the result of an inspedtion may mean they do not need checking for the next three weeks or more for swarming intent.

 

[meetballuk]

do you think its worth the move to get them thriving?
cant you get gorse honey must be some nectar, ive heard of gorse honey or did i imagine it?

 

[Floyd]

I am surrounded by Gorse up here in Highlands and have never even seen a bee using it during my walks.

Not sure if this is simply a correlation with temperature and nectar flow though.

 

[snoop]

They work it here all the time & have been doing so for the last month any fine day we had. Plenty of early pollen in it , but you will see them bring in other colours at the same time

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

"Gorse flowers are undoubtedly a useful standby for pollen for beekeepers in many parts of the country.Whether they supply nectar as well is rather open to question, but the opinion of careful observers is that they probably do at certain times.However, it is for pollen that the plant is mainly of value.This is produced in abundance and is bright yellow or orange in colour, assuming the darker or duller shade in the bees' pollen baskets..........Flowers often commence to appear freely as early as February, and so may take the place of willow and hazel in some districts. Bees commonly forsake gorse once other flowers become available." (F.N.Howes - Plants and Beekeeping)

So personally I wouldn't take the bees to an area just for gorse, but it is a handy early season supplement if it's in the area of your apiary.

(by the way, I thought I'd stir up controversy by cutting and pasting that quote but SWMBO objected to the sticky mess I made of the computer screen, and the fact I'd vandalised a very nice first edition - so I had to type it all out instead )

 

[REDWOOD]

there has been only one occasion when I have seen bees all over the gorse and that was when temps were over 20 and it smelt like nougat, usually there are just a few

 

[enrico]

Smells of coconuts to me!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Smells of coconuts to me!

Bound Tae

 

[mbc]

Smells of coconuts to me!

I've made quite abit of gorse flower wine and although the flowers (a painfull carier bag full per galon !) do have a coconutty smell, the wine has a slightly horse pissy smell to it, thankfully, quite a different taste, floral and light.

 

[PBee]

I've made quite abit of gorse flower wine and although the flowers (a painfull carier bag full per galon !) do have a coconutty smell, the wine has a slightly horse pissy smell to it, thankfully, quite a different taste, floral and light.

Must require patience and a steady hand to get the sample? ..... I'm impressed .....

 

[mbc]

Must require patience and a steady hand to get the sample? ..... I'm impressed .....

Thanks PBee

I'm sure you realise I meant a different taste to its scent rather than a different taste to horse piss

Never heard of horse piss wine, I supose it would be feasable if harvested from a diabetic horse.

 

[Luminos]

Thanks PBee

I'm sure you realise I meant a different taste to its scent rather than a different taste to horse piss

Never heard of horse piss wine, I supose it would be feasable if harvested from a diabetic horse.

The perfect accompaniment to the burgers...

 

[susbees]

Stop press...stop press...stop press...

Without a shadow of a doubt honey bees take gorse nectar (pollen in December and January in smallish loads). Week last Monday 7˚C bit of weak sunshine....and every chance since. Grounds been drying out a bit, finally, but apart from that pretty standard early Spring pre-willow and fruit.

Got the photos to prove it

 

[tidymeup]

I always find my girls working it at this time or year. Again not sure about nectar but they do bring in allot of pollen from it.

 

[Into the lions den]

Agree with ITLD, but not on the fixed date - there were swarms reported in late March last year?

Inspections, yes, maybe and when appropriate, but weekly? Not a chance. An inspection will tell you whether they might swarm (ie need motre inspections) or if there is only a very remote possibility of a swarm; the result of an inspedtion may mean they do not need checking for the next three weeks or more for swarming intent.

As I stated, we are later up here, and a swarm even in late April is a very rare beast indeed (though have been known in early springs). On this forum I did hear of an odd swarm or two in March last year, but the weather was a freak, breaking all sorts of records for the month, and it would be stretching it a bit to think the same will happen again any time soon.

Have been asked about how to plan for this year in the light of last year, and my reply is dont bother. It was a freak year and if you alter your hive management in the light of it it is most likely to be an error. Management should always be based on normal years with an eye open for sods law. We will not even be opening the nests of the southern unit till first week of April. They are low or even non swarming stock anyway and we do not congest them. Very early swarms are normally caused by congestion (quite often the result of over feeding). If this might be a factor in your colonies, and the bees are active and into build up, then yes, as per RABs post, you may well need to check, just to be sure.

 

[susbees]

I always find my girls working it at this time or year. Again not sure about nectar but they do bring in allot of pollen from it.

Ours are bringing in no pollen from it at all. Just nectar. The pollen isn't an easy harvest so they only bring it in before the snowdrops etc. But the nearest bushes were alive with nectar gatherers. We have over an acre of the stuff up the hill so I guess learned behaviour/"big crop" comes into play.