What's flowering as forage in your area

  • Thread starter Curly green fingers
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Spectacular tree in work, can someone identify please
 

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My wife borrowed the book "Planting for honeybees" from the local library.
An interesting table of the alleged best flowering plants for bees, by month of bloom.
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On another table, they list a type of Clematis "Clematis cirrhosa Evergreen Clematis" as flowering from December to February. Does anyone have experience of bee forage on that one? I ask as some of my colonies will forage throughout the winter.
 
I’m not sure if bees forage on cowslips but I couldn’t resist this picture.
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My bees are behind me and the house is a station which was made defunct in the 1930’s so I’m standing on the old track ballast.
 
Bees are moving on from the crab apples, which have been superb this tear, to the orchard apples now coming into full flower. Lovely aroma with some varieties particularly Kidds Orange Red. Also hawthorn attracting interest - another distinct aroma. A little sun and out they come!
 
I’m not sure if bees forage on cowslips but I couldn’t resist this picture.
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My bees are behind me and the house is a station which was made defunct in the 1930’s so I’m standing on the old track ballast.
Cowslips around here have been greatly increasing for the last few years so we have several grass road verges with quite thick carpets. Presumably they seed freely. The waxing and waning of plant and animal species is endlessly fascinating: gold finches are now our most numerous garden bird. Never see sparrows in our garden.
 
My Choisya is popular today (the sun is shining!) with the bees, waspy things, flies and bumbles.
The bumbles also on the comfrey next to it.4F8311BB-0686-409F-87DD-B87E10F4FEF7.jpeg
 

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I agree, Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) very common in the south.
I’ve noticed the plant before but never seen bees on it, they were on a lot of perennials yesterday down by the riverIMG_3098.jpeg
 

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