The Apiary in April

[Beefriendly]

According to the latest BBKA mag OSR will start flowering in April....
What Mediterranean climate/alternate reality is the author living in?
Apparently also a good time to put out traps for Asian Hornet.

 

[masterBK]

If you want to catch Queen asiatic hornets then surely spring is the time. In the last couple of weeks I have seen several queen bumbles flying around in my garden foraging and searching for suitable places to nest so assume Queen hornets would be doing something similar. While most OSR crops are well behind compared to this time last year I have seen some fields that will be in flower before end of April. Maybe not in north Yorkshire where Nigel lives.

 

[Beefriendly]

If you want to catch Queen asiatic hornets then surely spring is the time.

Perhaps if you live in France or Portugal.
More chance of catching and killing our native hornet queens with these traps and this amount of advertising for trapping hornets.
Alternatively if you do trap and find one at this time of year....it's too late. It means last years undetected nest has already spread it's new queens.

 

[fatshark]

Not too late to catch the founder of next years AH queens though

OSR ... oh how I laughed. It's about 4" tall here and there's still snow in some of the ditches.

 

[oliver90owner]

So they are stating the obvious once again! Or at least stating the obvious FOR THIS YEAR.

So, I know that about 5 years ago, the OSR started flowering in March. So what does that mean? Nothing really. OSR has bloomed earlier and earlier for the last four decades. Either the strains introduced or through climate warming. So what? Either earlier or planted even in more northerly areas.

So, not a lot of point in putting out hornet traps in the north of Scotland. So why not start in March, in the very south of the UK?

 

[Beefriendly]

OSR ... oh how I laughed. It's about 4" tall here and there's still snow in some of the ditches.

About same height around me.
The thing that gets my goat...and it's not just the BBKA, is people seem to have the impression that what is happening in their area is also happening everywhere else in the country at that time. Few writers make allowances for the differences in timing between the North and the South forage. Nor do they take into allowance the difference height makes to the seasons forage.

 

[Poly Hive]

Not saying a word.....

PH

 

[peteinwilts]

About same height around me.
The thing that gets my goat...and it's not just the BBKA, is people seem to have the impression that what is happening in their area is also happening everywhere else in the country at that time. Few writers make allowances for the differences in timing between the North and the South forage. Nor do they take into allowance the difference height makes to the seasons forage.

...and every year is exactly the same :-/

I am not a member of the BBKA, but is it a stock article?

I have two apiarys 8 miles apart. OSR on one site trails approximately 3 weeks behind the other due to elevation alone.

 

[DanBee]

According to the latest BBKA mag OSR will start flowering in April....
What Mediterranean climate/alternate reality is the author living in?

Depends if it's winter or spring planted OSR. Earliest flowering we have seen in recent years was March 11th for winter planted OSR.

 

[madasafish]

Depends if it's winter or spring planted OSR. Earliest flowering we have seen in recent years was March 11th for winter planted OSR.

No OSR within a 5 mile radius..

I find most of what is written about seasonal keeping in the magazine an utter irrelevance.

Maybe I am alone?

 

[mickbees23]

According to the latest BBKA mag OSR will start flowering in April....
What Mediterranean climate/alternate reality is the author living in?
Apparently also a good time to put out traps for Asian Hornet.

OSR is about 2 inches high here in Teesside and may be in flower in May. The BBKA mag is mostly advice for the south, we just help pay for it up here.

 

[colinc]

OSR is about 2 inches high here in Teesside and may be in flower in May. The BBKA mag is mostly advice for the south, we just help pay for it up here.

The BBKA mag is mostly advice for those who can’t read anything more weighty than a newspaper and can’t think for themselves. It is not a southern preserve unfortunately, follow it blindly at your peril.

Although the author is supposedly different, the article is strangely similar to last year, and the year before, and the year before........


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[B+.]

According to the latest BBKA mag OSR will start flowering in April....
What Mediterranean climate/alternate reality is the author living in?
Apparently also a good time to put out traps for Asian Hornet.

It was probably written several months ago.
I think they're working on the stopped-clock principle. It will be right some of the time.

 

[Amari]

According to the latest BBKA mag OSR will start flowering in April....
What Mediterranean climate/alternate reality is the author living in?
Apparently also a good time to put out traps for Asian Hornet.

Depends if it's winter or spring planted OSR. Earliest flowering we have seen in recent years was March 11th for winter planted OSR.

Last year the OSR here was showing colour in late March. This year probably 2-3 weeks behind - but starting to grow now.

"Winter planted" = August sown in these parts - direct-drilled into harvested cereal stubble
.