Osr?

[Craig1961]

Tonigts question is:-
What is OSR?

 

[justme]

oilseed rape.

 

[Craig1961]

Correct. 10 points...
Seriously though, thanks

 

[johncorne]

Well, I took bees there for the first time last year, and will take most of my colonies there again this year. I have been given access to 200 acres of the stuff.... if only I could scale up fast enough

Jc

 

[YorkshireBees]

I had a good crop from OSR last season but I must admit I never knew what OSR looked like when it was young until watching Country file last night!
I then realised that the farmer has kindly rotated the crop again and it's planted in the 2 fields directly behind my home apiary!!

Funny that this coincides with me moving all but 1 colony to out apiaries in fields elsewhere! Will have to walk / drive round and see where the nearest OSR to them are.

 

[Gower]

Excuse my ignorance, but am i right in saying that OSR is an arable crop which needs relatively warm and dry conditions to flourish? i've seen feild after field of it in the south east of England, but to my knowlrdge havent seen any locally in South Wales (i wait to be corrected on this!).

 

[drstitson]

both climate and landscape not best for any arable crop - best left to the flat wilderness of eastern england; keeping the lush green hills for proper food production (lamb).

 

[Gower]

 

[enrico]

If you have never had hives on OSR look out! They bring it in by the bucket load, you need to take it all of quickly and spin it out before it sets, this may mean before it is even capped. Leave it in the frames and it will go solid and you are then in a right mess! You have to be really really aware of what is going on in your hives to stay on top of it. Any OSR left in frames will 'seed' other honey and set it quicker than normal. Try to use supers for OSR only and not mix with later crops. Do some reading on the subject... Good luck
E

 

[user 6228]

If you have never had hives on OSR look out! They bring it in by the bucket load, you need to take it all of quickly and spin it out before it sets, this may mean before it is even capped. Leave it in the frames and it will go solid and you are then in a right mess! You have to be really really aware of what is going on in your hives to stay on top of it. Any OSR left in frames will 'seed' other honey and set it quicker than normal. Try to use supers for OSR only and not mix with later crops. Do some reading on the subject... Good luck
E

ooooh nooo that makes for trouble at both ends of the year if they plant it this year...
If google earth is to be believed we have the possibility of both OSR and Heather!!!

 

[rae]

Don’t be frightened of OSR. You need plenty of kit – so spare supers and frames, ready to go when you need them. You need to do regular “shake tests” of uncapped frames to see if you can remove them, or better still get a refractometer. As long as you are on top of the kit and getting the honey away, it is a great source of honey that everyone seems to really like. We are thinking about moving two hives to a massive OSR field so that they expend less effort.

 

[CB008]

It is the only honey that I eat myself - I sell the runny stuff or give it away. "Buyers" tend to be put off because it sets but you can pile it on your toast really thickly and for me it tastes divine. I was caught off guard by quite how quick the colonies expand/swarm if they are right on it.

 

[YorkshireBees]

"Buyers" tend to be put off because it sets

Well in my limited experience there are plenty of people (customers) that love soft set honey produced from OSR.

I walked the dog this evening and counted at least 5 fields with it growing in near to my home apiary!

 

[REDWOOD]

I believe that the closest fields of OSR to you gower is Bridgend

 

[Rosti]

A refrac is a much better call than a shake test, simple and quick ( >82 ). Match stick and sample from uncapped cells. With regard OSR honey. I label mine as crystal honey and main crop as blossom. The number of people coming back in aug asking for more crystal and taking runny stuff as a poor substitute is high.

 

[FreeFall]

but you can pile it on your toast really thickly

I think this has a lot to do with the popularity of set honey - it's not so much the taste but the 'ease of handling'. Runny honey really can make a mess!

 

[Gower]

I believe that the closest fields of OSR to you gower is Bridgend

thanks Redwood, do you relocate your hives from Swansea to take advantage of the OSR?

 

[Tdf]

well lads, new to osr first time seen it growin near me. it looks like it will be in flower in about 1-1.5 weeks time so when should i add the super, all hives fairly strong 4-5 frames of brood

 

[REDWOOD]

No I don't move my hives Gower they are happy where they are

 

[BeeMoustashe]

While we're on the subject, is OSR a complete disaster if left in frames too long? Granted it's useless for me to extract without alot of effort, but is it suitable as a spring feeding the following year? Would it work bruising the combs and popping on a hive when it's getting warmer (such as now ish) so the bees can get enough water in to work it?

Or is it just knackered?