What's flowering as forage in your area

[enrico]

Wild stab in the dark…………Indian bean tree?

View attachment 40788

yep

 

[Murox]

It certainly looks like a Catalpa, has it got dark bean like pods on it yet?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Bees on the clover and privet @ 20c I’ve shuffled supers around and some have 8/9 super frames in the boxes which are being drawn out I’m leaving everything now untill the flow stops.
All colony’s stable and I haven’t lost one swarm this season which is brilliant!
My the weekend I’ll have 16 cells in the incubator but only 8 mini nucs and no nuc boxes, I’ll have virgin queens spare

 

[user 819]

In the village apiary where Ihave four colonies , RBWH is certainly being foraged , plenty of pinkish /purple pollen . Also lots of yellow pollen the lawn is smothered in Lesser Celandine so could be the source.

Meanwhile despite last weeks on/ off rubbish weather the garden colony have all byut filled an empty super with nectar ( lime ?) , they are still busy ripening and sealing other the other stores. Removed one super last week to extract but that went straight back on for room for them.
Colony now stands with one BB super and eight super, they now just need to get a wiggle to evaporate and seal it, all but one supe risn't heavy but that will change thus week.
I don't use the shake method on open combs or try and refract various cells per frame to see if open combs are ready, if it ain't 90/95% sealed it stays on till ready. I have had this before with open combs a % is fine but outer edges tend to be over % so one can end up with an iffy honey that may seperate in storage or the lid bulges.

A couple of times in the past I have been lucky and the honey doesn't all spoil or ferment, the top 1" can smell a bit fermented and once the honey is warmed one can remove the top frothy 1" for cooking or personal use , the warmed honey below comes out at a decent 18% or so and tastes fine .

 

[Erichalfbee]

Bees out on the Alder Buckthorn
Fruit and flowers on the same branches

 

[holmbee]

Bees all over knapweed today

 

[holmbee]

error sorry

 

[pargyle]

Wild stab in the dark…………Indian bean tree?

View attachment 40788

I think you might be right ... We have indian bean trees around the office at work but they are 'proper' tree - 30 feet high ... this one is only about 7 or 8 feet high and I've never seen it with the characteristic 'beans' hanging down - perhaps with all the flowers on it then it will 'fruit' this year ? Certainly the bees love it ... the flowers didn't last long - they have almost all gone now. I'll try abnd get a photo when he's around,

 

[The Poot]

Bees all over knapweed today

There’s lots of knapweed (and thistle) near me this year and the bees are definitely on it.

 

[Erichalfbee]

There’s lots of knapweed (and thistle) near me this year and the bees are definitely on it.

Yes...I've noticed the farmers around here seem to have left the thistles alone this year

 

[The Poot]

Echinops and hardy geraniums, in the garden.

 

[Swarm]

Honey bees making the most of the last of the Veronicastrum.

 

[alancooper]

In the surrounding countryside, mainly bramble clover and rose-
bay willow herb. In my garden, the same, with borage and marjoram. What a flow currently!

 

[kevp]

Local farmer as kindly planted a few acres of fennel and also some lacy phacelia. We also have a few acres of wild marjoram/oregano in our quarry, so looking forward to having a taste of honey and see how it compares to last year

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Local farmer as kindly planted a few acres of fennel and also some lacy phacelia. We also have a few acres of wild marjoram/oregano in our quarry, so looking forward to having a taste of honey and see how it compares to last year

I keep sowing phacelia and it keeps failing to grow. I see it growing from spilt seed on field edges and roadsides but it just won't grow for me

 

[The Poot]

I keep sowing phacelia and it keeps failing to grow. I see it growing from spilt seed on field edges and roadsides but it just won't grow for me

Same here. I sowed a raised bed and nothing germinated.

 

[Nannysbees]

I keep sowing phacelia and it keeps failing to grow. I see it growing from spilt seed on field edges and roadsides but it just won't grow for me

I usually grow from seed in individual cells putting two seeds in each to guarantee germination. The difference in these and letting them self seed it is that mine grow absolutely huge!! I have to stake them up.

 

[Amari]

I keep sowing phacelia and it keeps failing to grow. I see it growing from spilt seed on field edges and roadsides but it just won't grow for me

Same here. I sowed a raised bed and nothing germinated.

I usually grow from seed in individual cells putting two seeds in each to guarantee germination. The difference in these and letting them self seed it is that mine grow absolutely huge!! I have to stake them up.

Strange difference - I usually have a patch of phacelia on my allotment and it germinates well and re-seeds if I let it. I grow it for pollinators of all types, particularly hoverflies and bumbles but few honeybees visit. However this summer there is a large field of phacelia 2km distant and for the first time I'm seeing the dark purple pollen in the BB combs.

 

[Nannysbees]

Strange difference - I usually have a patch of phacelia on my allotment and it germinates well and re-seeds if I let it. I grow it for pollinators of all types, particularly hoverflies and bumbles but few honeybees visit. However this summer there is a large field of phacelia 2km distant and for the first time I'm seeing the dark purple pollen in the BB combs.

Ignore my message for some reason thought you were talking about borage. I did sow phacelia in my wildlife border but for the last two years it's pathetic!!!!

 

[enrico]

I keep sowing phacelia and it keeps failing to grow. I see it growing from spilt seed on field edges and roadsides but it just won't grow for me

Has to be fresh seed