Hi Gavin,
Yup, that Emma I've been too busy showing off the dusty medieval tower this weekend to get online again till now. But I did get to my apiary again this evening, and the foraging was interesting. There's definitely a flow on. It's definitely strong in the evening - second time that they were still going for it at 5:30pm, while lunchtimes have been quite quiet. And this time I saw bees who had both the little pale triangles on the front of their heads, and yellow pollen loads on their baskets. I'm increasingly sure the yellow is ivy. There's a lot of it round here, and I walked past some yesterday that was loud with bee flies and wasps.
So maybe my pets aren't close enough to find balsam, after all. Their powdered noses were much less dramatic than the photo you've posted. Pity!!
Right, I'm off to browse photos of bees foraging ivy...
Emma