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Erichalfbee said:
Blimey, that's early....must go look around.
I've spotted a few bramble flowers open.
Click to expand...

Bramble flowers open down here, I've had the first pickings off my Allotment Loganberries - they've done really well this year from a root 2 years ago. Raspberries are flowering well and a lot of berries already set ... bees all over everything but sadly, almost certainly, not mine ... perhaps next year !
 
If that is Himalayan Balsam - thats not good news, its a long term disaster for nature and ultimately your bees and everyone else. Yes it is good for honey, but when will man kind eventually pull his head out of his butt and develop a conscious. Not impressed at all.
 
Jimy Dee said:
when will man kind eventually pull his head out of his butt and develop a conscious. Not impressed at all.
Click to expand...
A conscious what? - A strange reaction - nobody has planted that damn thing - it is rife around here we (that is anglers like Redwood and myself) try our best to control it but make no mistake it's here to stay so life is all about compromise and keeping it down to a manageable level.
Do you expect Redwood to patrol the ten miles of abandoned trackbed near his apiary where that particular lot has sprouted and tackle it all himself?
 
Not sure I agree. Destroy it along water courses by all means. Easily done by just pulling up the shallow roots. In the hedgerows and along roadsides it is a pretty flower where only nettles dock and ground elder grow. Doesn't do any harm there
 
Erichalfbee said:
Easily done by just pulling up the shallow roots. In the hedgerows and along roadsides it is a pretty flower where only nettles dock and ground elder grow. Doesn't do any harm there
Click to expand...


'fraid it does - it outcompetes everything! not so easy to pull up either, as it is absolutely rampant. We have it marching up hills that used to be covered in bracken - it's not just a plant of moist (I just love that word...) environments. Large areas of forestry that have been cleared because of Phytophthera are now sporting pink. NOT good news for our native flora.

It does make wonderful honey and provides a good flow, but PLEASE anyone who want their bees to gather Hb - please take your bees to the balsam - there is plenty already. Don't even think of spreading the seed near your bees. (it is illegal, if you care)
 
Fair enough happy to be corrected. Nobody has suggested planting it but you can't blame a beekeeper or two for celebrating its blooming.
 
I know a chap who has a fair plot of HB on his land - it encroached into an area he planted with trees via a main watercourse and he advises that he has found it easy to keep it within bounds on his land. He has commented that the pasture topper is very effective at stopping its spread although from time to time he finds isolated plants that have grown from seeds deposited by roosting birds.....
 
Erichalfbee said:
Fair enough happy to be corrected. Nobody has suggested planting it but you can't blame a beekeeper or two for celebrating its blooming.
Click to expand...

Does it normally bloom two months later than now though?
 
Erichalfbee said:
Nobody has suggested planting it
Click to expand...
But some clowns on here have in the past.
Everyone knows my stance on HB, we're never going to get rid of it, but it is an invasive and destructive plant so it has to be controlled, Finding a happy medium is the thing. I have a foot in both camps. Angling associations do not have the resources to eradicate it so I am slowly getting around to steering them towards a happy medium - keeping it off the river banks and trying to 'contain' it in other places.
 
I'm trying hard to think of a native species that is suffering due to Balsam ( NB. In and around my area. )
Roadside verges rarely contain a variety of flora, there's usually more litter than flowers so I agree with Erichalfbee.
Shallow rooted annuals pulled up before they set seed can be contained, the real problem when it comes to any environmental issue is paying to deal with it and so it tumbles down the ladder of serious issues. Pretty much the same with Ragwort, no council teams ripping that stuff up these days either.
Conservation is a wonderful thing but they don't pay people to do these jobs unfortunately.
 
Swarm said:
I'm trying hard to think of a native species that is suffering due to Balsam ( NB. In and around my area. )
Roadside verges rarely contain a variety of flora, there's usually more litter than flowers so I agree with Erichalfbee.
Shallow rooted annuals pulled up before they set seed can be contained, the real problem when it comes to any environmental issue is paying to deal with it and so it tumbles down the ladder of serious issues. Pretty much the same with Ragwort, no council teams ripping that stuff up these days either.
Conservation is a wonderful thing but they don't pay people to do these jobs unfortunately.
Click to expand...

In the days of "road men" with a barrow Ragwort and Thistles were cut down with a scythe and never caused a problem. Now more people pay higher taxes to keep executives and managers and the service gets steadily worse!
 
I was puzzled when I read the title of this thread.
I was thinking "Hepatitis" ??

I am in two minds about the thread. I am grateful for the warning of the early flowering. I am annoyed by the "clever" title.

I would have preferred a title like ..... "Early Himalayan Balsam"
 
Why would a beekeeping forum have a thread on Hepatitis?
HB will be easily recognised by a lot on here?
The rest might look out of curiosity after hitting the New Posts button.
I hope we haven't annoyed anybody else in a similar fashion
:ohthedrama:
 
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