Bramble Nectar Flow on

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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Quite. Was talking to quite a few people over the last few days and apart from one or two all are dismal.

We still have bramble in flower up here but it is never a significant yielder here, though our plants are a lot less vigorous and have a lot less flower than in the warmer climes further south. The bees in England get bramble but not here.

Crop currently running at about 15% of expectations, so disastrous, and despite lots of flowers locally nothing is yielding any significant flow. Bramble, White clover, Lime, Balsam, and Bell heather are all in flower. None are yielding. Balsam now well in flower and not seen a single honeybee on it and not even one 'ghost bee' coming home. It syrup tank time when it should have been extracting time. Last year the nectar from the same sources (bar the Bell which failed) was profuse in our English locations though sparse up here.

Bell looks great but not getting the weather right now, and Ling north of the watershed (Grampians) looks very nice, but south of the watershed there has been so much rain that in many areas the flower spikes are rotting and turning brown. Have seen that before, 1985 being a case when it would have been better for the bees not to take them to the moors at all. Having seen the state of the heather we are not occupying some of our areas this year, placing more hives than normal in others.

IF...and there is still a long way to go.....we get this weather carrying on throughout August,,,,,then expect it to be a serious winter for losses. As a general average over the country it is quite predictable....bad summer, especially bad August, followed by elevated loss levels in the coming winter. Queen matings have been poor and sporadic since the end of June, and queens are starting to curtail laying. Some colonies have their drones out already. Not a generally optimistic sign.....

However we only need one week in August to break even for the year and see the queens lay a decent enough supply of eggs for wintering bees, so all is not yet lost, and it is surprising how many years are like this. All doom and gloom and then a harvest comes in off the Ling. The fat lady has a habit of being ready to start singing, then trips and falls on the last step up to the rostrum. Its only infrequently she actually tunes up.

However we only need one week in August to break even for the year and see the queens lay a decent enough supply of eggs for wintering bees, so all is not yet lost, and it is surprising how many years are like this. All doom and gloom and then a harvest comes in off the Ling. The fat lady has a habit of being ready to start singing, then trips and falls on the last step up to the rostrum. Its only infrequently she actually tunes up.

My seaweed weather forecaster is going crispy on the edges... and the old beekeeper down the pub is predicting an Indian Summer for late August and into October... fingers crossed.... we have a beer on it (St Austell Trelawny.. crafted Cornish ale of course!)


Yeghes da

Interesting quote from the Met office main man here in the paper this weekend.

July ( here in Ireland ) was average, every decade on average we get two really good summers, two really bad and six average. So this constitutes an " average" summer here and probably the same in the UK.

2014 was one of the two really good ones.

It is 15 degrees here today, grey, rained all day yesterday, 14 degrees.... if that is average God help us !

I live in hope... hope that had me assembling super frames yesterday, whilst watching the endless rain and howling wind ..

BrianO said:

Interesting quote from the Met office main man here in the paper this weekend.

July ( here in Ireland ) was average, every decade on average we get two really good summers, two really bad and six average. So this constitutes an " average" summer here and probably the same in the UK.

2014 was one of the two really good ones.

It is 15 degrees here today, grey, rained all day yesterday, 14 degrees.... if that is average God help us !

I live in hope... hope that had me assembling super frames yesterday, whilst watching the endless rain and howling wind ..

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Interesting how tasks waver with the weather, current and forecast. A week or so ago I was desperately spinning out honey at a few late night sessions to free up some boxes as well as knocking up a few new boxes of foundations- faulty crystal ball, not one of the wet supers put back on hives has been properly filled let alone the foundation getting drawn as far as I know, hopefully one or two sites will yet surprise me.

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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Still brambles here - not as heavy a flow at the home apiary although quite a few flowers out still (weather not helping much!) pink bramble flowers burst into action last week in the Trap area so all I need is good weather for the Carreg hives to get revved up - they were going hell for leather on the bramble this time last year - balsam is in full bloom in that area as well.

I find bramble very varied in flowering times just in my local area - so a handy cropper for me because always some out for the bees. The recent wet weather will see some fresh growth and flowering if it warms up a bit

BrianO said:

Anyone else seeing a flow from Bramble ?

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Been a flow from bramble for the last 3 weeks, most production hives have a least 1 super on some have 4.
Blackberries ready for picking down this way, seems very early ?
S

Hivemaker. said:

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.

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Similar in my part of County Armagh. Bees are working away when they get a weather break.

BrianO said:

July ( here in Ireland ) was average, every decade on average we get two really good summers, two really bad and six average. So this constitutes an " average" summer here and probably the same in the UK.
..

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July aint over yet.....and what is left of it looks grim.
http://weather.unisys.com/gfs/gfs.php?inv=0&plot=500p&region=eu&t=9p

Regional variations. Apparently we had the coldest May for 50 years here, and up to now its the wettest summer for 30 years.

Decided not to fight nature on the queen rearing in May. Just as well, of the ones reared out in the field as a part of normal hive management that month, way too many were drone layers, or started well and have turned drone layer, or have been attempting, either with or without success, supercedure. Only about 50% of the May queens that produced eggs have been OK. June on the other hand produced an abundance of good queens, which in 2012 and 2913 produced precisely zero good queens. Joys of the British Isles weather variations.

Stiffy said:

Been a flow from bramble for the last 3 weeks, most production hives have a least 1 super on some have 4.
Blackberries ready for picking down this way, seems very early ?
S

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???? Must be something local about this. Here a bramble and a blackberry are the same thing. Never see them both with ripe fruit and flowers anywhere near the same time.

Into the lions den said:

???? Must be something local about this. Here a bramble and a blackberry are the same thing.

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It's not just me then - thought that maybe there was a language problem here!

Ditto I always refer to the plant as a bramble that produces the fruit the blackberry. Although often see fruit formed but fresh flowers in the same bramble patch if we have a warm late summer. Think it is fresh growth flowering

Plenty of closed buds on the bramble here but unless we get an improvement in weather soon I think we will miss a flow
With one leg in the hive half full camp I'm hopeful of a crop still as we have an abundance of ragworth and knapp weed in the area,also quiet a bit of heather locally
I'm not giving up hope until I smell the ivy
The ivy tainted honey I extracted late in the season last year sold well and I still have people looking for the white set honey with the strong flavour they got off me last year,there is a definately market out there

Into the lions den said:

???? Must be something local about this. Here a bramble and a blackberry are the same thing. Never see them both with ripe fruit and flowers anywhere near the same time.

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Possibly a local thing indeed.
One is the fruit , the other the plant, I pick blackberries not brambles as the brambles wouldn't make a nice pot of jam. It is very odd as it is normally early to late August when get fruit but fields are full of both flowers and fruit at present and flow is well and truly on. We also get flowers stretching into early winter and have seen one or two still around into the new year.
S

Stiffy said:

Possibly a local thing indeed.
One is the fruit , the other the plant, I pick blackberries not brambles as the brambles wouldn't make a nice pot of jam. It is very odd as it is normally early to late August when get fruit but fields are full of both flowers and fruit at present and flow is well and truly on. We also get flowers stretching into early winter and have seen one or two still around into the new year.
S

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Well here is one for you, I am quite " into " brambles/blackberries so much so even planted a wide variety on my allotment site.

Actually picked my first one on saturday , a rouge one on a bush in hedgerow covered in green berries with one plump black one, and a few feet away another bush ( one of many ) in flower , with plenty of buds yet to open to flower.

BrianO said:

Well here is one for you, I am quite " into " brambles/blackberries so much so even planted a wide variety on my allotment site.



Actually picked my first one on saturday , a rouge one on a bush in hedgerow covered in green berries with one plump black one, and a few feet away another bush ( one of many ) in flower , with plenty of buds yet to open to flower.

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Aghhh, but did you pick a bramble or a blackberry ? Nature does seem in a bit of a tiz at the moment.
S.


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I'm having a head ache as many may have read.. i was told not to worry last week when i mentioned lack of stores.. in my head i said feed but member's on here said don't feed.. .. i wish i had gone with my gut instinct and fed the poor thing's.. regardless of that i also mentioned a while back that my Turnip's / Carrot's and Onion's have went to seed really early and that is something i have never seen before.. when nature seed's early it usually mean's something bad is around the corner.. get your feeder's and food at the ready as i think you may need it.. i'm half clueless with keeping bee's but i know what the garden vedge is telling me..

Millet said:

I'm having a head ache as many may have read.. i was told not to worry last week when i mentioned lack of stores.. in my head i said feed but member's on here said don't feed.. .. i wish i had gone with my gut instinct and fed the poor thing's.. regardless of that i also mentioned a while back that my Turnip's / Carrot's and Onion's have went to seed really early and that is something i have never seen before.. when nature seed's early it usually mean's something bad is around the corner.. get your feeder's and food at the ready as i think you may need it.. i'm half clueless with keeping bee's but i know what the garden vedge is telling me..

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Life responds to its environment... not visa versa.......

except that plants over a few billion decades altered our atmosphere

Yeghes da

Too true..Icanhopit..

Stiffy said:

One is the fruit , the other the plant, I pick blackberries not brambles as the brambles wouldn't make a nice pot of jam.

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Bramble Jelly? - Made from blackberries.