Bramble Nectar Flow on

Happy days..

After a bad season, for many reasons, opened up today to find loads of filled frames capped and waiting to be capped, weather crap, but dry.

Actually cold, 14 degrees today but bees out in force all over bramble, been watching them for last few days frenetically working the Bramble, looking at the amount of unopened buds should be still available to them for at least another week.

Forecast not great, but our natives seem to manage in the lower temps.

Might not be a disastrous season after all

Anyone else noticed and experienced now this sudden burst in filling frames with nectar/honey ??

There's a bramble flow on but the rain is washing it all away

Erichalfbee said:

There's a bramble flow on but the rain is washing it all away

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Wedi beni down here

Never mind...berries to look forward to.
I was walking along the River Avon twixt Bath and Bristol earlier in the week and the blackthorn is groaning with plump sloes yet here we have not a single berry

BrianO said:

Happy days..

After a bad season, for many reasons, opened up today to find loads of filled frames capped and waiting to be capped, weather crap, but dry.

Actually cold, 14 degrees today but bees out in force all over bramble, been watching them for last few days frenetically working the Bramble, looking at the amount of unopened buds should be still available to them for at least another week.

Forecast not great, but our natives seem to manage in the lower temps.

Might not be a disastrous season after all

Anyone else noticed and experienced now this sudden burst in filling frames with nectar/honey ??

Click to expand...

Have you many supers on, I'd find it hard to be optimistic about this year!!

foghornleghorn said:

Have you many supers on, I'd find it hard to be optimistic about this year!!

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I feel your pain, or really did until earlier this week.

Most is two , mainly one per hive, but nothing had been going in until recently, now lots of nectar piling in and capped frames. Had been seriously depressed ( in Beekeeping terms ! ) about the whole situation, given the hours and hours of work that went in to getting them to where they are now.

Plan now, with those on Double brood, to remove the undrawn frames, and dummy down the space in the second brrod box above I had put in when uniting, to get them to focus on the supers. One last push for a reasonable crop

There was loads of bramble out here but the poor weather and yesterday terrible rain has put pay to any flow.

nantmoel said:

There was loads of bramble out here but the poor weather and yesterday terrible rain has put pay to any flow.

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Wouldnt give up yet. one days rain wont end it, surely as here flowering is staggered, looking at buds here I reckon slightly over halfway point and about another week to go.

Any flow of anything would be good. Lime. Seems to be failing!
E

enrico said:

Any flow of anything would be good. Lime. Seems to be failing!
E

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Sounds like your season has been awful this year? Mine has been average, half of last years which was exceptional.
Looking forward to next year!
Cazza

Any flow of anything would be good. Lime. Seems to be failing!

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Ditto.

Seems to be nearly gone over and still cold here ...... 15 degrees today !

Anyone else seeing a flow from Bramble ?

Yes. One hive, on which I have a pollen trap is only bringing in blackberry pollen. 4 supers on that one and will add next when it stops raining.

drex said:

Yes. One hive, on which I have a pollen trap is only bringing in blackberry pollen. 4 supers on that one and will add next when it stops raining.

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That's reassuring drex. Not wanting to be greedy, but I would like a little bit more.

beeno said:

That's reassuring drex. Not wanting to be greedy, but I would like a little bit more.

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Wouldnt we all !

Ohh for a warm settled spell, so they could catch the last week or so of local bramble.

After that will be local garden forage, though still hope . Friend of mine locally had a super drawn and filled in a week in early september year before last. Not one for porky pies , so heres hoping !

If there's a bramble flow now, it will be the first time I've seen one this late in 17 seasons beekeeping. The best hope of a flow now is on the heather or a localised balsam flow.

BrianO said:

Anyone else seeing a flow from Bramble ?

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...one colony of a yellow Italian type honeybee.... left one super on last week to finish capping... bees clearing it today.

Colony next door Black pure Cornish Amm ( DNA verified) left one super on last week,, to finish capping... added yet another today bees busy bringing in the nectar, despite the inclement weather.

Cut and copied from another thread... but relevant.

Pollen from my guide shows it to be bramble... plus Himalayan Balsam... yet a walk along the banks of the Great grey green Tamar river all set about with social housing... where usually there is masses of H Balsam... none spotted.. obviously the Environmental Agency have been spraying it!

Guess it is all over for the yellow stripies and their ilk for this short season... however the Pure Native stocks are going strong bringing in the pollen and nectar and supering up with loverly golden and best honey in Europe... no wonder everyone in the South West is talking about going over to them... best honeybee adapted to out wet summers and sub tropical temperamental maritime environment!

... bathed in warm seas from the North Atlantic drift... ( NOT available on the Eastern cold Nordesjon!

Yeghes da

Chris B said:

If there's a bramble flow now, it will be the first time I've seen one this late in 17 seasons beekeeping. The best hope of a flow now is on the heather or a localised balsam flow.

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Brambles flowered here yonks ago! Nice, plump, green berries on all the brambles I know of.

kazmcc said:

Brambles flowered here yonks ago! Nice, plump, green berries on all the brambles I know of.

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Blackberry mead?
Autumn raspberries now covered with bees.... still some Summer to come!

Yeghes da

kazmcc said:

Brambles flowered here yonks ago! Nice, plump, green berries on all the brambles I know of.

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Still about 75% of brambles in bud here, so plenty more yet, latest i have known, bees are working well on the bramble flowers and bell heather, not much interest in the rosebay yet.