The Importance of Dandelions. :)

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BrianO

BrianO

Drone Bee
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Location
Dublin ( South )
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Last week beautiful weather all week ( lousy now and snowing a minute ago ! ).

Anyway struck me seeing the amount of honeybees on the dandelions and the abundance of pollen they produce, and I presume nectar, as to how important they are as Spring forage, so I now view them in a different light !

No longer the pesky weed that needed to be dug up ( Never sprayed ! ).

As this cool little guy shows ! :)
 

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Is it me or is it a bumper year for dandelions? On roadside verges in some places it's a wash of yellow
 
Definitely a good year round here.

It helps that the local council does not mow as much (probably due to cuts) giving the ones on the roadside verges time to flower!

I have also seen a couple of fields full so it's almost as good as last year.

In terms of competition for the bee with OSR, I personally have seen the start of a flow BEFORE the OSR started so that must have come from elsewhere (possibly Dandelion) and I believe the bees visit both for a varied diet judging by the pollen being stored in the frames.
 

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B+. said:
I can't be very far from you but I thought there weren't as many.
Click to expand...
I'm in Aylesbury Vale and have to admit don't think I've seen any verge mowing so that perhaps explains it more than the seasonal affect
 
Quite why councils have a fixation with close mown verges is beyond me - they look so much better (English) covered in various wildflowers than the sterile mown lawn look that is labelled 'tidy and well maintained'!

Think how much habitat all the road verges add up to and how big a resource they could offer for our native inverts, mammals etc.

A national campaign to stop the mowing would be most advantageous, though if the lack of mowing is down to cuts, that's one silver lining!

The dandelions are abundant locally and provide a wonderful display for us and the bees to enjoy!
 
+1 Great to see that Swansea council did not cut grass verges this year whilst the Dandelions were in full bloom and the seeds will probably play havoc in numerous gardens for year, but theres always roundup. Also noticed last week the seeding of wild flowers
 
REDWOOD said:
+1 Great to see that Swansea council did not cut grass verges this year whilst the Dandelions were in full bloom and the seeds will probably play havoc in numerous gardens for year, but theres always roundup. Also noticed last week the seeding of wild flowers
Click to expand...

The devils work!
 
Plenty of dandelions near my hives but have yet to see a bee on any of them! They must be on something else and it's not OSR as there's none grown anywhere around here.
 
beecology said:
Quite why councils have a fixation with close mown verges is beyond me - they look so much better (English) covered in various wildflowers than the sterile mown lawn look that is labelled 'tidy and well maintained'!
Click to expand...

It isn't just the councils...so many people complain about brambles, long grass, nettles, daisies, dandelions, ete etc etc being untidy. How many gardens do you see that have much other than mown lawns? (I am sure that there is a higher proportion represented here than in the general population -at least, I hope there is!) They often seem taken aback when I say that all I see is habitat and food for our diminishing wildlife.

Our local council had designated a roundabout as a "conservation verge" full, as it was, with cowslip, yellow rattle and eyebright ,amongst others. It looked lovely for several years as the flowers spread and spread; it was mown, but at the correct time. There was also a mown margin at the edge for visibility, then swards of flower, long grass and then into scrubby trees. I was admiring the cowslips one morning on the way to work, thinking how progressive of the authority, (this was 8 years ago). Within a week, before any plants had chance to seed it had been mown - by the council! The council leader had had a complaint from a resident that it looked untidy...:hairpull: :hairpull: :hairpull:

Unfortunately, no one in the grounds maintenance team had the nous to tell him why it had been left growing.
 
beecology said:
Quite why councils have a fixation with close mown verges is beyond me - they look so much better (English) covered in various wildflowers than the sterile mown lawn look that is labelled 'tidy and well maintained'!
Click to expand...

I think Bontbee hit the nail on the head

bontbee said:
It isn't just the councils...so many people complain about brambles, long grass, nettles, daisies, dandelions, ete etc etc being untidy.
Click to expand...
:iagree:
councils are under pressure from the 'general public' to mow everything to a standstill, and when it comes to grass verges there is the added evil of theelfandsafetywheretheresblametheresaclaim mob.
There was outraged cries and general letter writing to the local paper here from the twin set botique town types of llandeilo a couple of years ago when the town council learnt the county parks department were, the next year going to sow a lot of wildflower areas in Dinefwr park instead of constantly mowing it. Unfortunately for the trumpet who got his face on the paper complaining, the half page article on the previous page was one by me promoting pollinator planting in the county, pointing out its benefits and asking for support. His campaign died a death, and we now have a county wide pollinator friendly maintenance policy (it helped when I pointed out to a friend who is the board member I/C parks etc that it would save money so he asked me to help with some pointers)
So, it is getting better :)
 
We've got LOADS of dandelions this year - both in our field and our so-called mown areas around the house. I have to make sure I don't tread on the dandelions as I go to feed the chickens as there are generally quite a few occupied by bees :)
 
There is a safety issue with high uncut verges in the countryside at some road junctions . Common sense might dictate they cut them there and leave the rest uncut for economic reasons. Guess common sense and councils don,t get on very well.
 
I've got a large section of grassed bank about 100yards from the house and the council allow that to grow during the summer. All sorts of stuff in it..No idea what any of it is tho. One day I'll go and look see if there are any bees on it.
 
jenkinsbrynmair said:
councils are under pressure from the 'general public' to mow everything to a standstill, and when it comes to grass verges there is the added evil of theelfandsafetywheretheresblametheresaclaim mob.
Click to expand...

Crickhowell would appear to have got round the problem of mowing verges in the town by glyphosating them. At least that's what it looked like 10 days ago. Lovely shade of brown they were.
 
bontbee said:
It isn't just the councils...so many people complain about brambles, long grass, nettles, daisies, dandelions, ete etc etc being untidy. How many gardens do you see that have much other than mown lawns? (I am sure that there is a higher proportion represented here than in the general population -at least, I hope there is!) They often seem taken aback when I say that all I see is habitat and food for our diminishing wildlife.

Our local council had designated a roundabout as a "conservation verge" full, as it was, with cowslip, yellow rattle and eyebright ,amongst others. It looked lovely for several years as the flowers spread and spread; it was mown, but at the correct time. There was also a mown margin at the edge for visibility, then swards of flower, long grass and then into scrubby trees. I was admiring the cowslips one morning on the way to work, thinking how progressive of the authority, (this was 8 years ago). Within a week, before any plants had chance to seed it had been mown - by the council! The council leader had had a complaint from a resident that it looked untidy...:hairpull: :hairpull: :hairpull:

Unfortunately, no one in the grounds maintenance team had the nous to tell him why it had been left growing.
Click to expand...

Society as a whole should embrace our 'wayside' heritage, but then perhaps that is just pie in the sky stuff - I'd wager the majority of people in Britain couldn't tell a dandelion from a daisy and furthermore, couldn't care less either way. Much more important things to think about like who's going to win Britain's got the x factor in the jungle, or brooding over a 64 plate car because next doors only got a 62 plate.

Utterly depressing really
 
jenkinsbrynmair said:
I think Bontbee hit the nail on the head


:iagree:
councils are under pressure from the 'general public' to mow everything to a standstill, and when it comes to grass verges there is the added evil of theelfandsafetywheretheresblametheresaclaim mob.
There was outraged cries and general letter writing to the local paper here from the twin set botique town types of llandeilo a couple of years ago when the town council learnt the county parks department were, the next year going to sow a lot of wildflower areas in Dinefwr park instead of constantly mowing it. Unfortunately for the trumpet who got his face on the paper complaining, the half page article on the previous page was one by me promoting pollinator planting in the county, pointing out its benefits and asking for support. His campaign died a death, and we now have a county wide pollinator friendly maintenance policy (it helped when I pointed out to a friend who is the board member I/C parks etc that it would save money so he asked me to help with some pointers)
So, it is getting better :)
Click to expand...

Well done that man - that's what we need more of not worthy
 
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