What's flowering as forage in your area

[Earthboy]

Your spring must come earlier than mine. We are now beginning., Rock-Chick (the moniker sounds almost oxymoronic: hard and soft)

 

[holmbee]

Your spring must come earlier than mine. We are now beginning., Rock-Chick (the moniker sounds almost oxymoronic: hard and soft)

Spring in Dorset is really only just beginning at last. Blackthorn is starting to blossom on a few bushes as is goat willow. Should start to see real quantities of forage from now on!

 

[Fiona in South View]

Well that’s another year all the crocuses have been and gone before the bees got to them.

I rely on my wild plum (Cherry Plum Mirabelle). It comes in just as the crocus are fading and, due to their size, is a massive meal. When a storm hits and destroys the blossoms or the weather is just rubbish and the bees miss out on their banquet, it is so depressing.

 

[Firefly]

All mine had started flowering early/mid Feb, by last week all done and finished.

Very dependent on location, I think. Lancs and Ceredigion are very different local climate. Here in S Midlands we are more like the latter, and I saw lots of snowdrop, crocus, hazel and hellebore pollen going in. And I've just discovered (being slow on the uptake and low on observational skills) that my new little 2 colony apiary lies below two towering pussy willow "trees" (too high to call them shrubs), which they have started exploiting today. One is so frantic to get going that they have chewed away the foam with which I had extended the ill-fitting entrance block, so they now have 2 entrances - and prefer the one they made themselves, of course

 

[Earthboy]

I rely on my wild plum (Cherry Plum Mirabelle). It comes in just as the crocus are fading and, due to their size, is a massive meal. When a storm hits and destroys the blossoms or the weather is just rubbish and the bees miss out on their banquet, it is so depressing.

Fiona, thank you for having to write down the scientific name of the plum to avoid double entendre, caused by my clever colleague earlier.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I rely on my wild plum (Cherry Plum Mirabelle). It comes in just as the crocus are fading and, due to their size, is a massive meal. When a storm hits and destroys the blossoms or the weather is just rubbish and the bees miss out on their banquet, it is so depressing.

We have one in the garden. Lovely aren’t they. This one was the site of the earliest and tiniest swarm in my garden

 

[Earthboy]

Such micro or mini-swarms worry me as I too see them often usually in the fall. But in the spring, they might have a fighting chance, given a few frames of bees from other hives. And they will follow the nectar flow unlike in the fall.

 

[Amari]

I've bemoaned on here the slow spring in these parts but today: Help! Just driven past a field of OSR with some showing yellow flowers! I've not opened my hives yet but looking through the polycarb CBs I get the impression that colony development is slow.
I seem to get neurotic about my bees every year at about this time....

 

[gmonag]

It has been and still is cold here in E Anglia. Patience padawan...

 

[Erichalfbee]

Such micro or mini-swarms worry me as I too see them often usually in the fall. But in the spring, they might have a fighting chance, given a few frames of bees from other hives. And they will follow the nectar flow unlike in the fall.

It was April and I still have the queen.

 

[StephenT]

Rosemary flowering in the front garden and was happy to see a few bees on it. Some of the bees coming into one of the hives had quite whiteish faces. Mahonia about to burst open in the back garden. Shed loads of plum and cherry trees at various stages of blossom. I remember this time last year it was colder and the bees could not make the most of the early blossom. They’re off to a great start this year

 

[Newbeeneil]

Dandelions out in my front garden!

 

[Earthboy]

Dandelions out in my front garden!View attachment 25003

Before you post, ask yourself 3 things, Addendum
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?
Is what your doing good for the bees or you?

 

[Newbeeneil]

Before you post, ask yourself 3 things, Addendum
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?
Is what your doing good for the bees or you?

That's doesn't work...... that's 4 questions.

 

[Earthboy]

Sorry, but I cannot add. Subtraction and multiplication are fine.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Dandelions out in my front garden!

Time to change that avatar

 

[E&MBees]

Before you post, ask yourself 3 things, Addendum
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?
Is what your doing good for the bees or you?

What is the problem with posting a photo of a dandelion? They are an important food source for our bees.

 

[BugsInABox]

What is the problem with posting a photo of a dandelion? They are an important food source for our bees.

On the what's flowering as forage thread too.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

On the what's flowering as forage thread too.

sticking to the subject - that will never catch on. Time to stamp it out I think

 

[Earthboy]

In the Democratic People's Republic of Oklahoma, dandelions bloom year round, but spotty. They will not help my bees much. I do understand as you go up north, they are becoming a major pollen source. Ironically, (one of my students said "Irony" is an adjectival form of the noun "iron" [pronounced as "arn" around here]) the further north you go, the longer the nectar flow. For instance, Canada produces more honey than USA. Go figure. So overall, considering this give and take, things are fair in the global village, I guess.