Where are all the bees?

[StephenH]

It should be nicer by the weekend, apparently, though not as good as Bank Hol. Monday was.

[rustylady]

We lost 4 of our 5 honey bee colonies over the winter, they won't go out in high winds, cold or rain so they didn't stock up enough on food to have a strong force of young bees to get through such a long winter. The few that did make it were working hard earlier this week and finding damp rocks by the stream to get water.

Is there no way of providing them with extra food?

[alldigging]

Is there no way of providing them with extra food?

Yes you can either leave honey on or add blocks of fondant. In a slow spring they also need protein though which you can make with sugar, soya flour and brewers yeast.

[4390evans]

Im in the north east england and cant remember seeing any really last year yet ive seen loads this year. Think they might be moving up here x

[StephenH]

Im in the north east england and cant remember seeing any really last year yet ive seen loads this year. Think they might be moving up here x

Well, put 'em on the first train back South, then!

[BUFFS]

i have only seen one bumblebee so far this year,except for tuesday,its never been warm enough for them,we are now into may and have only had one warm day**********************,thats loads of anglosaxon reflecting how remiss it is of the sun to refuse to cross the border,probably heard about alex slimehand

[Two_Sheds]

In a slow spring they also need protein though which you can make with sugar, soya flour and brewers yeast.

I just heard on R4 this morning that legume pollen is very high in protein. So at this time of year, I'm guessing broad bean flowers? Is it feasible to grow them in large quantities just for the bees?

[StephenH]

Spent 10 minutes in the back garden this morning, from about 8:40-8:50, specifically and solely looking for bees - I saw two possibles and one probable. All were brief and distant glimpses, so I didn't get a good enough look to see whether they were bees or some other insect, but the last one was alighting from an apple flower when I saw it, which makes it a probable. Even if none of them were bees, it at least indicates that flying insects in general are arriving in my garden - until now, all I've seen have been a few cabbage white flutterbys and the odd gnat. As far as honeybees are concerned, I know that when one finds a good source of pollen, it tells the rest of the hive via the famous bee dance, so I suppose once one's arrived, all its mates will soon follow. I hope so - my putative 'James Grieve' is one solid mass of blossom at the moment, and it's not even quite at maximum blossom yet, so it'd be a pity not to get a heavy harvest. However, if my identification of it is correct, it's self-fertile, but even self-fertile apples do better with a pollen-partner, provided the bees and other pollenating insects do their bit.

[chefgage]

Over the last couple of years never see many bees around the garden. But so far this year i have seen loads. They seem to be attracted to the flowering gooseberry bushes. They are the small type of bee which i guess is a honey bee??

Just noticed I have changed to a sprouter must be the 100 posts

[StephenH]

I'm not a bee expert, but honeybees are slimmer and duller in colour than bumbles, so your smaller bees probably are honey bees.

Honey bee:


Bumble bee:

[Glutton4...]

I've seen a few Bees around so far, but not large numbers of any one kind. The Garden I was in yesterday has small Apple trees in bloom, one of them is spectacular, and that had three or four Bumbles on it. Have seen several Honeys and only a couple of those big noisy rumbling ones the size of a Grape!

[chefgage]

We seem to get just one huge bumble bee who just flys around bumbling into things as they do. Usually gets into the garage when the doors are open

[Jennyjen1984]

No bees down my way either. Although it is a tadge windy still. Im concerned about the bee decline. Been following articles on the issue and the effect of pesticides. I have lots of links for anyone thats interested.
Im going on a bee keeping cause next month. Been wanting to keep bees for a while now and finally got a space to do it. So i will be doing my bit to help the population.....hopefully!

Oh and hello from a newbie :-)

[alldigging]

Just read this Scottish Bee Farmers in trouble? - Poly-Hive.co.uk

[boundtothesoil]

Quite a few bees around where I live, near Aberystwyth, building in numbers over the last 10 days. First to appear in my garden were bumble bees on plum, black currant and gooseberry blossom. Then, during the odd sunny day, they have been joined by honey bees on pear and apple blossom. Most of my apples are still to come fully into blossom. The bumble bees are around earlier in the day than the honey bees and as far as I can see they also remain active well into the evening, unlike the honey bees.

I'm fortunate that most of the agriculture in the area is grassland-based, some unimproved, with little use of insecticides. The neighbouring steep hillsides also have a lot of gorse on them, flowering in April this year. I went to have a look at some on one of the slightly warmer days and it was definitely providing 'an early bite' for the bees, before the fruit blossom started to appear.