Pollination

[arpoet]

This year I got some mixed seeds for tubs and planters from Kings (via the lottie soc). I filled 4 troughs with rotted hos muck and MPC, sprinkled on the seeds as directed and left em in the greenhouse. They have been on the decking for about 3 months and are a mass of mixed flowers which the bees love.
Best £1.25 I have ever spent.

[BertieFox]

We've noticed many fewer pollinators this year due to the cold weather and constant changes from warm to cold. Although we have several hives of bees in the garden, they haven't been that active on some of the crops like courgettes and beans. I have particularly noticed a very poor set of melons in our greenhouse and of the aubergines, even though the doors have been open most of the day. Insects don't seem to have entered the house very much.

We have friends with top bar hives, and we have helped them inspect them and move the combs around. While they are quite easy to construct, it is not that simple to get them established and to get the bees to build the first combs without them becoming stuck or built in all directions. You also give up any idea of anything more than a taste of honey.

If you want bees, I would say it is still better to use a conventional moveable comb hive. If you used a British National Hive, but only with the 'supers' using two to make a brood box, this would work well and be more easy to manipulate. If you want the bees to build mostly their own comb, then use starter strips on each comb once the main nest is established in the centre of the hive.

[Potstubsdustbins]

We must be lucky plenty of bees and solid pollination on all crops except one sole courgette.

[Compo72]

We got one of then beepol hives with bumblies
We went away about 3 weeks ago , came back to find a large number of dead bees in the bottom of the box
Though The queen was still there

The other day I looked as had 2 queens inside the plastic box and one outside in the wooden box itself

I'm no expert but I gather the male and female bees die out leaving the queens to over winter
Perhaps nature is out of synch


On a plus note .
We have lavender , borage and verbena which the bees adore .
Neither a range of different species in attendance
Even at 5 am and 10 pm the bees are on the borage and verbena

I have seen bees going onto my soft fruit in pots , hopefully doing the business

Don't forget Hive Alive on the Beeb this week





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[Two_Sheds]

Do you grow flowers

Mine are in amongst my veggies, and I aim to have something in flower most months of the year

No problems with pollination, we have 100s of bees, ladybirds, hoverflies...

[veggiechicken]

Loads of bees, hoverflies, butterflies here. Pollination seems just fine - sorry

[Nannysally99]

A bee was seen flying round my runner beans at 7.45 am. My husband is a bit happier now lol

[BertieFox]

We got one of then beepol hives with bumblies
We went away about 3 weeks ago , came back to find a large number of dead bees in the bottom of the box
Though The queen was still there

The other day I looked as had 2 queens inside the plastic box and one outside in the wooden box itself

I'm no expert but I gather the male and female bees die out leaving the queens to over winter
Perhaps nature is out of synch


On a plus note .
We have lavender , borage and verbena which the bees adore .
Neither a range of different species in attendance
Even at 5 am and 10 pm the bees are on the borage and verbena

I have seen bees going onto my soft fruit in pots , hopefully doing the business

Don't forget Hive Alive on the Beeb this week





Sent from my iPhone using Grow Your Own Forum mobile app

That's quite alarming in fact, as bumble bees should thrive all summer long and only make new queens which mate and then go into hibernation at the very end of the summer. Lots of dead bees is a bad sign indicative of pesticide poisoning. They should be flourishing at this time of year building a big colony. New queens would only be produced as an emergency measure, and I rather suspect the colony would die out completely in the normal way before that happened. I should check with your neighbours who is spraying poisons when flowers are open.

[Compo72]

We contacted the company for advice , which mentioned possible poisoning too

we did wonder if the hive might of got too hot for them as well

Though we do take heart that compared to other years
Having planted other flowers for the bees
Other species have thrived .

I note some species like the red tailed adore the borage .
We grew two large tubs of it .
The lavender doesn't seem to have attracted them as much as last year


Perhaps going off topic
Here in north yorks moors there doesn't seem a lot heather to come out this year .
Il guess in six weeks time il be proved wrong

In the past I've seen plenty of hives when out walking the hill n dale tops





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