somerset orchard in winter

[taff..]

nothin special, just a shot of the orchard where my hives are kept from the top of the hill.

you can only really see half of the orchard, it stretches around to the left. because of the hill that we're looking down from the orchard is really sheltered from the wind and it was noticeably warmer down there than it was anywhere els on our walk.

 

[BKF Admin]

What fruit is being grown Taff?

 

[oliver90owner]

Admin,

Not a lot - at this time of the year. Haha. I'm feeling 'tense' here.

Regards, RAB

 

[taff..]

its all Apple, 400 tonnes went to Bullmers this year

 

[hedgerow pete]

yuk, thats a waste of good apples into cider , i could have made some great chutney, wine, apple pies ( yes with cider apples)

I might just have to keep that in mind if i ever lose my orchard from where i do all my picking from

 

[grizzly]

Nice view, fantastic source for the bees too.

Must be a nice environment when working the hives.

 

[oliver90owner]

Apples always seems to be a pollination, rather than a honey, crop.

Is there a good yield to be had? It's also a mono-culture crop, so bad for the bees, unless they have other forage available after the apples have blossomed.

Regards, RAB

 

[taff..]

Nice view, fantastic source for the bees too.

Must be a nice environment when working the hives.

It is stunning.

during the summer I can drive right up to the hives, I regularly see Deer and Buzzards and rabbits and so on. The hives are in such a sheltered spot I can't hear traffic, I dont see a soul. propper peace and quiet and to cap it off the farmer genuinely likes bees and not just for the pollination

 

[taff..]

Apples always seems to be a pollination, rather than a honey, crop.

Is there a good yield to be had? It's also a mono-culture crop, so bad for the bees, unless they have other forage available after the apples have blossomed.

Regards, RAB

get a grip will you, this is a somerset orchard not 100sq miles of californian Almonds.

from the photograph you can clearly see that the orchard does not extend 3 miles in each direction so of course there is other forrage

 

[Hombre]

So it's not just all grass under the snow then Taff? RAB made a reasoned observation.

 

[Frisbee]

A lot of orchards have dandelion growing well under the apple trees, which I think the bees prefer. I don't think apple trees are that good a producer of nectar.

My Somerset bees wanted to swarm as soon as the blossom finished.......that's in time scale, not that I have much apple blossom.

Frisbee

 

[Hombre]

The ideal of course would be nothing but apple blossom for the bees to work and then a huge rash of dandelions so the farmer gets a bumper apple crop and the bees get to produce some quality honey.

I think that the difference made to the apple crop from having bees situated on it as opposed to not is likely to be very significant for the orchard owner.

If you can get an idea of previous year's crop and then the figures for this year, it might be interesting. Of course you would have to enquire if there were any colonies in or about the orchard in previous years.

 

[thurrock bees]

yuk, thats a waste of good apples into cider , i could have made some great chutney, wine, apple pies ( yes with cider apples)

I might just have to keep that in mind if i ever lose my orchard from where i do all my picking from

get in on a farmer, ive got bee's on a small orchard and ive been told to ''help me self'', it has both eating and cooking apples

 

[PaleoPerson]

get in on a farmer, ive got bee's on a small orchard and ive been told to ''help me self'', it has both eating and cooking apples

Yum Yum, Apple pies

 

[MJBee]

Yum Yum x 2 BLACKBERRY and apple pies

 

[taff..]

So it's not just all grass under the snow then Taff? RAB made a reasoned observation.

does this image look like they have been working a mono-culture crop?

lots of different colour polen on that frame as far as I can see.

can you explain to me how a few weeks of apple blossom can possibly be

bad for the bees

does this mean that OSR or heather or any other crop that the bees are moved to is

bad for the bees

or does that mean that RAB is just having a dig? or typing just for the sake of typing?

I have never read anywhere that placing bee hives in an apple orchard is anything but good, lets not forget the dandilion, clover, HB, Blackberry, ivy and all the rest of the plants and trees found in and around an orchard, maybe some of you oracles can identify the plants from the photo above.

 

[taff..]

If you can get an idea of previous year's crop and then the figures for this year, it might be interesting. Of course you would have to enquire if there were any colonies in or about the orchard in previous years.

Sorry, forgot to answer this.

talking to the farmer his typical crop is 400 tonnes, and has been for as many years as he can remember regardless of number of hives in the orchard at the time.

there are 3 Beeks in this orchard, a total of about 10 hives at the moment, I think in the peak of summer there was still less than 20

 

[Hombre]

Sorry Taff, but to me, you seem stressed and are coming across as being more than a little hostile.

That said, I didn't say that "apple orchards were bad for the bees". My comment was that by saying "Get a grip", you used a phrase that could be construed as being jockular or pointed and then removed the doubt by qualifying it.

The farmer said that "regardless of the number of hives" that his fonnage has been pretty constant at 400 tonnes a year. The claim doesn't quite stack up, because where I was coming from was a position of zero hives to however many hives. The difference to his crop with no hives located on or nearby might be significantly less. A situation included in the farmers claim, but maybe not within the last 10 years.

Apple blossom is good for pollen as RAB said, but extremely short on nectar. That was a statement of fact.

It's a very good library picture you have there and obviously shows lots of varied pollen. I don't think I have seen it before.
From fields of snow, my inexpert eye finds it fairly difficult to ascertain exactly what might be underneath. The type of local cropping wasn't mentioned and the amount of bramble, dandelions etc.available is something that I would merely have to guess at.

I don't think that I've missed any of the points you raised, but no worry.

 

[BKF Admin]

Are anyone's bees flying yet?
Thought not

 

[taff..]

It's a very good library picture you have there and obviously shows lots of varied pollen. I don't think I have seen it before.

if you read back you'll find it was RAB that said the orchard is bad for my bees.



I havn't posted this picture on here before but did post it on the BBKA site, obviously I cant link it, username - Tafflade.