todays news

[alancooper]

saw red pollen this afternoon

I have been looking at pollen loads from my hives for a couple of years to get some idea of what by bees are using throughout the year. For comparison I have collected directly from the main plant species in the local flora.
I have never seen red pollen at this time of year (we do not have Field scabious in Fermanagh) but I do know that you can get strange colours from mixed loads brought in by the bees. Rose-bay willowherb (fire-weed) has purple pollen and is still being brought in here - if was mixed with a light-grey coloured pollen could it give a reddish hue? Another possibility is a garden plant.

[Calluna4u]

I have been looking at pollen loads from my hives for a couple of years to get some idea of what by bees are using throughout the year. For comparison I have collected directly from the main plant species in the local flora.
I have never seen red pollen at this time of year (we do not have Field scabious in Fermanagh) but I do know that you can get strange colours from mixed loads brought in by the bees. Rose-bay willowherb (fire-weed) has purple pollen and is still being brought in here - if was mixed with a light-grey coloured pollen could it give a reddish hue? Another possibility is a garden plant.

Not a garden plant for sure, it has been coming in in several locations, indeed ALL the lowland locations. Willowherb here is finished, and here the pollen from it is a dull blue colour. Not been getting any of that for some time. Scabious is a common plant around here, but it is also largely finished, and in any case not enough of it for hundreds of pollen loads daily into each of up to 84 nucs on a site. Its has noticeably sharply tailed off and today I have not seen any of the red stuff. It was a deep rich red, not dissimilar to the pollen load on the scabious bee illustrated by Gavin, and the loads were totally uniform in shade. If it IS scabious I am amazed at the amount they were getting. Must be a lot more of it about than I thought. Gavin: lol...Jolanta is being kept very busy with serious work, and has not been given time by her cruel boss to go messing around with microscopes!

Was feeding some of the mature colonies at a place near Glamis this morning and the distinctive phacelia pollen greatly in evidence. Saw the farmer on the way out and he was very proud of his phacelia field, part of which he had mown, and it all came up again and maybe a quarter of the filed in flower again now. Did not have the heart to tell him there had been no bees there for the main flowering as they were all away at the heather wasting their time. Still nectar coming in today. Will try to upload a picture later of what the bees had done to the foundation.

[Calluna4u]

Here at the southern end of the Spey the heather is still in bloom, patches of it still quite strong and the bees are still working hard bringing in pollen as well, mainly yellow not red.

Nice to hear. Our bees at Ralia and further down near Ruthven Barracks are also bringing yellow pollen. I thought it late for tormentil but sure, there is still some around, also ragwort in abundance, plus hawkweed(?) in most places. The cream/off white coloured heather pollen also still coming in plentifully. Some parts at Rothiemurchus the heather is still very vibrant and not far past peak flower.

As for your bees in July being 'a bit nippy'..... this was commonplace this year as they conditions were so much against them and all the nectar sources were running terribly late. No doubt a flow sorted that little problem out.

[Bridget]

Nice to hear. Our bees at Ralia and further down near Ruthven Barracks are also bringing yellow pollen. I thought it late for tormentil but sure, there is still some around, also ragwort in abundance, plus hawkweed(?) in most places. The cream/off white coloured heather pollen also still coming in plentifully. Some parts at Rothiemurchus the heather is still very vibrant and not far past peak flower.

Are they your bees on the moor before the Tromie Bridge? That's about a mile from us as the crow flys.
I planted some free meadow seeds early in the summer and some of those have been flowering like mad for about 6 weeks and that's where the yellow pollen is coming from. I must look up tormentil and hawkweed. There are still lots of little flowers around like little cornflowers and some small white forest flowers. although this area is late to get started in spring, once it does there is masses with the Insh marshes, clovers etc and the trees. I don't seem to get a gap in forage at all.
I want to move on and get the supers off but if the heather is still so in flower next weekend I might have to delay. I wondered if the lack of rain might now be hindering the nectar flow from the heather blossom?



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[Calluna4u]

Are they your bees on the moor before the Tromie Bridge? That's about a mile from us as the crow flys.
I planted some free meadow seeds early in the summer and some of those have been flowering like mad for about 6 weeks and that's where the yellow pollen is coming from. I must look up tormentil and hawkweed. There are still lots of little flowers around like little cornflowers and some small white forest flowers. although this area is late to get started in spring, once it does there is masses with the Insh marshes, clovers etc and the trees. I don't seem to get a gap in forage at all.
I want to move on and get the supers off but if the heather is still so in flower next weekend I might have to delay. I wondered if the lack of rain might now be hindering the nectar flow from the heather blossom?
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Yes indeed. We have a smallish group there every year, and there is a bigger group about half a mile from there up in the forest.

For the last two weeks at least the bees have only been 'filling in down' due to lack of bee power remaining.

Those bees have done ok (ish) this year, but further back down the A9 nearer to Dalwhinnie, the heather was even later, and the bees had nothing much at all when I last looked at them a couple of weeks back, and I do not expect to see any change in that. This has been a weird year.

I appreciate that there is a lot of minor flora up there and at low densities colonies can self maintain in the gap times, but this year the weather was so dire, and the heather so late, that the bees that went up for the bell heather got nil for 7 weeks, which plays havoc with their welfare.

The nectar coming in today I referred to is balsam on the low ground. I will ask my team who are working up near Braemar today if there is any nectar, but they will be working up the A9 from some time later on this coming week.

ps...It is not too dry....but sun elevation allied to cold mornings and short day length mean a lot less heather nectar will be available than three or four weeks back. NEVER seen any significant nectar from heather this late.

[Emma]

Mine have been bringing in mid-blue pollen for the last week or two. Lots of it, big round loads, don't think I've ever seen it before. After a brief google, I think there must be a field of phacelia nearby - is anyone else getting that just now?

[gavin]

After a brief google, I think there must be a field of phacelia nearby - is anyone else getting that just now?

C4U's bees near Glamis have been - see the post above. It has been such a dismal summer that lots of plants have been flowering later than normal, or maybe a farmer cut his Phacelia and the regrowth is flowering as in the example above.

[Calluna4u]

Mine have been bringing in mid-blue pollen for the last week or two. Lots of it, big round loads, don't think I've ever seen it before. After a brief google, I think there must be a field of phacelia nearby - is anyone else getting that just now?

Sounds like some late willowherb to me, or perhaps a minor pollen source of local significance. Phacelia is more a purple, depending on how the light strikes it it can look vivid dark purple to almost a slate purple, close to black. Once you see it in the combs you never forget it or mistake it for anything else of any importance.

[fatshark]

United two colonies last weekend. One super-strong, queenright and hunky dory, one with a failed queen. She was present but far from correct, with no sign of eggs, larvae or brood. She was removed and I did a standard uniting over newspaper. This Saturday I checked them. About 80% of the newspaper had gone and pollen was being taken in. The Q was in the bottom box and laying well. The bees in the top box had raised a single fat queen cell they were in the process of capping. The weather had been stunning all week, but we're expecting rain and low temps from tomorrow.

Firstly, there's not a drone to be seen in this colony and far too late to expect the Q to get mated. Secondly, they must have 'pinched' an egg from the bottom box within a day or so after uniting (no sign of laying workers and the Q hasn't ventured upstairs).

I ripped the cell down. I assume that they'd have done the same thing if the weather turned, but didn't want to risk it. What were they thinking?

[greengumbo]

Hives back from heather on Sunday - 3 hives and 4 supers of ling in total.

What next ! I cant extract it for a wee while so pondering whether to remove to a warm room and store or to leave it on the hives until I need it. Only downside I would like to get feeding these hives ASAP now the weather is about to change.

I think removal but any advice ?