Trees For Bees

[Millet]

secretes nectar at 70 degrees is what I meant mate

I'm with you now..

 

[Hivemaker.]

Ah......now Hawthorn, there's the thing.
You get Hawthorn years and old beekeepers go all misty eyed about them.
Some years you get lots of blossom and strangely lots of haws in the autumn but no real flow. Other years when the weather is just right the May scents the fields and you can't walk there without being knocked out by the heady aroma: the bees are all over it. The honey is dark and nutty and just...........................................wonderful.

2014 was really good year for Hawthorn here.

 

[Swarm]

2014 was really good year for Hawthorn here.

Same here. Our daughter came home to get married in May and that heady aroma was all around the apiary. A gorgeous harvest

 

[Erichalfbee]

2014 was really good year for Hawthorn here.

Yes here too....... she said, misty eyed

 

[Erichalfbee]

Same here. Our daughter came home to get married in May and that heady aroma was all around the apiary. A gorgeous harvest

I remember those lovely favours you did

 

[Chriszog]

There is a little map thing on guugle that gives you a 3 mile radius from a point on the map . Helps to see what else they may be going to . This year i have 6 fields of osr over the hedge

Cant find that! can you explain where it is please!

 

[Bosleeu]

I use this one:

http://obeattie.github.io/gmaps-radius/

Found it quite good

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Chriszog]

I use this one:

http://obeattie.github.io/gmaps-radius/

Found it quite good

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Thank you!

 

[deanrpwaacs]

Thats the one .

 

[Robbo8916]

I use this one:

http://obeattie.github.io/gmaps-radius/

Found it quite good

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Quite surprising just how big a 3 mile radius looks on the map!!!

Mine takes in two parks, two farms, the allotments and orchard and a large forest. Along with hundreds of houses and gardens. That's the radius from the garden a lady has offered for a hive. Wow

 

[Hivemaker.]

LIMES....bees like limes

And sweet chestnut is another they like.

 

[Millet]

I think i read somewhere that Lime only produce Nectar and no pollen.?

 

[gregior]

My bees are near a lot of Laurel and love it,buds are showing now so should be out in a week or two

 

[BrianO]

My bees are near a lot of Laurel and love it,buds are showing now so should be out in a week or two

Ditto losds near my hives already in flower

 

[BrianO]

Cherry Laurel is an introduced shrub which is found quite commonly throughout Ireland with the exception of Counties Donegal, Sligo and Mayo. It grows up to 10 metres high, is found in woodland and along roadways where it forms dense thickets. Its flowers are 6-8mm across with well-separated, white petals, a dark-cream centre with prominent stigma and a circle of stamens. They are borne in elongated, erect racemes on upright woody stems, green in the first year. The evergreen leaves are dark green, shiny, leathery, oblong and have small teeth. It is quite an invasive shrub and it contains cyanide. It belongs to the Rose family.

I first recorded and photographed this in 2012 in the Glen of the Downs, Co Wicklow where it is extremely prolific.

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

 

[Erichalfbee]

It has extra floral nectaries too and you see bees on it even when there are no flowers

 

[Bosleeu]

The bees love it and my bees at home are normally miles ahead of the "farm" bees in Spring, I think mainly because we have a multitude of huge laurels around the neighbourhood. If it doesn't warm up soon I fear they may miss out on it this year.

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[philipm]

You know when the bees are on hawthorn the hives smell of old socks, but must admit the honey is pretty good.

 

[Poly Hive]

Two years ago when I had a massive lime flow, the bees certainly were taking pollen as I watched them collect it on the flowers. So another old wives tale?

PH

 

[Goran]

If You are refering to Tilia sp. - lime tree. It si pollen rich and bees gather abundance of pollen.
Unfortunatelly some "smart" beeks during the flow feed the bees with sugar and pollen of lime covers it, as said they have problem to detect false honey.. Sad, really sad. But that is the world we are living in..
Lime is unpredictable flow at my place, due to high day temps, nectar usually evaporate fast and bees only have use of pollen. Some small flow maybe.. Maybe one season I had 10kg per hive, very low.

But about black locust ( on a picture), if weather behave..
When flow is steady, over 10kg per day per hive..

Trees- few I know: Koelreuteria paniculata, here flowers during lime flow ( there is also some koelreuteria which flowers later in August/September, but I believe it can be found in UK); Tetradium danielli, bee tree. Gleditchia triacanthos, with large torns ( there is Gleditchia inermis, without torns, I believe can be found in UK)