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Thread: todays news

  1. #3701
    Senior Member Bridget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Drone Ranger View Post
    http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009...fe%20Cycle.htm

    A lot of ivy we see clambering over things will not be mature enough to flower so there might not be enough to get a crop of any kind

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening...save-bees.html
    http://highburywildlifegarden.org.uk...s/english-ivy/
    Attachment 2864
    No ivy here but bees still bringing in bright deep orange here. No idea where it’s coming from. BTW is it true or myth that bees bringing in pollen means there is brood in the hive? We have one that’s looking as though it’s lost it’s queen but some weeks ago we saw what we thought was a mating flight. (Should have made a note of the date but weren’t really sure what we were seeing). Just two bees in flight one on top of the other but they were too quick to check if one was a Queen. They passed us three times.


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  2. #3702

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    Quote Originally Posted by mbc View Post
    Have I got it right that you're warming the frames prior to spinning them out? Does the ivy honey reliquefy at a low enough temperature that the wax doesn't get damaged?
    Mostly the honey has set before extracting - you need to cut it out of the frames.

  3. #3703

  4. #3704
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    We have a very over grown plot for sale next to us and it is full of ivy, in fact it is busy killing some seriously big trees which is a concern. However it is barely flowering and I am not seeing bees on it. Not that much of a disappointment as the hives are still working HB. I am actually after lunch taking off the last super. The hives are lead weights too so my fondant purchase may be un needed but that is fine as it will happily keep.

    PH

  5. #3705
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    So no one successfully reliquefy's set ivy to spin out the honey and save the comb, shame as there is a ready market for ivy honey in bulk these days.
    Thanks for the replies.

  6. #3706
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    I will stick my neck out here and say it is not very common to have ivy honey is Scotland. Only report I have ever heard of was from Dundee or near there who claimed to see bees working on it. Over my 20 or so years of bees in Scotland I can honestly say I have not even seen ivy in flower properly here. In East Mids yes and very busy it was with bees too but not up here.

    Wrong forum for the question?

    PH

  7. #3707
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Default todays news

    I’ve not seen ivy honey either, but last autumn I was called out about a ‘swarm’, and it was only a huge amount of very happy bees foraging on the people’s ivy hedge, up here in Aberdeenshire. The owner then said he’ll cut down the hedge because he has grandchildren visiting. I don’t know whether I succeeded in dissuading him from doing so.

  8. #3708

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mellifera Crofter View Post
    The owner then said he’ll cut down the hedge because he has grandchildren visiting. I don’t know whether I succeeded in dissuading him from doing so.
    I hope so!

    Still not flowering here...!

    Bees enjoying the beautiful weather here this afternoon and quite a bit of pollen of various colours coming in. Took the opportunity to get the feeders off and mouse guards on.

  9. #3709

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    Quote Originally Posted by Poly Hive View Post
    We have a very over grown plot for sale next to us and it is full of ivy, in fact it is busy killing some seriously big trees which is a concern. However it is barely flowering and I am not seeing bees on it. Not that much of a disappointment as the hives are still working HB. I am actually after lunch taking off the last super. The hives are lead weights too so my fondant purchase may be un needed but that is fine as it will happily keep.

    PH
    The reason we get a lot of ivy in Fermanagh is that there are a large number of tall hedges with trees. Ivy has a "reputation" for killing trees but it does not. As trees become over-mature they can be blown down in strong winds. Old trees happen to support much ivy, but the main cause of wind-throw is old age, particularly if the trees have a hollow trunk. Countryside with few hedges or hedges cut regularly will not give ivy honey because firstly, there is little ivy and secondly, there is little opportunity for it to flower in a low hedge.

  10. #3710
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Calluna4u View Post
    Gavin has reported significant flows near Dundee and at the same time we had bees about a mile away which were getting zilch.
    I've seen patches in frames in years with settled warm days in October - and I think that it is a major pollen source for that last burst of brood rearing - but have never had enough worth harvesting. Ted Hooper writes that it gives honey crops in the far south-west (of England) and presumably global warming in the intervening decades is responsible for that extending over larger areas now.

    There are two species of ivy, Hedera helix and Hedera hibernica. The latter tends to be on south-facing rock faces with the former mainly on tree trunks and generally cooler situations. It is in the warm spots where you will see honey bees on the better days along with a range of other pollinators. Take a sprig indoors (in some water and on a sunny windowsill) and you will see the copious secretion from both types but more of it from the second, lusher species.

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