Ivy Watch

[beeno]

I know we had a heads-up from someone on the forum that Ivy was in flower, but could not find the thread. Ivy is about 3 weeks away here or so I thought, but apparently not. Got a couple of frames with some Ivy in them, so I hurriedly cleared all my supers today. Must say that I have not seen any Ivy pollen going in, but then they have loads of pollen at the moment.

 

[bpmurray]

I know we had a heads-up from someone on the forum that Ivy was in flower, but could not find the thread. Ivy is about 3 weeks away here or so I thought, but apparently not. Got a couple of frames with some Ivy in them, so I hurriedly cleared all my supers today. Must say that I have not seen any Ivy pollen going in, but then they have loads of pollen at the moment.

I think I'm the culprit

One section of ditch here has ivy in flower, although most of the rest seems only to be just into bud. Since I'm feeding at the moment, I'd love them to get a new source of real food.

 

[Webby]

What colour is ivy pollen?

 

[Erichalfbee]

A dirty yellow

 

[Erichalfbee]

Buds here

 

[Millet]

Its no where near flower in this neck of the woods, if i remember correct it was a poor year for ivy last year with very few flowers and very few wasp on it.

 

[Tonyatcwfarm]

We have ivy buds here in Westmeath but we are at least 3/5weeks away from flowering
Are you feeding because of colony size or lack of forage?
We still have rag worth and bramble in flower here and bees are very active
I find that the last 2weeks of Aug are when my hives put on most weight
Won't start to worry about ivy till mid Sept

 

[Scammell]

Buds here

Same here in South Beds.... By the looks of the amount of buds its going to be quite a show!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Same here in South Beds.... By the looks of the amount of buds its going to be quite a show!

Always lots here. Depends on weather though, last year the bees never got to it and there were few berries. The year before the branches were groaning with fruit and we had the fattest pigeons ever the following spring.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Always lots here. Depends on weather though, last year the bees never got to it and there were few berries. The year before the branches were groaning with fruit and we had the fattest pigeons ever the following spring.

had quite a good yield off the ivy around here last year, and as for the pigeons - ivy doesn't half make the flesh taste bitter

 

[bpmurray]

We have ivy buds here in Westmeath but we are at least 3/5weeks away from flowering
Are you feeding because of colony size or lack of forage?
We still have rag worth and bramble in flower here and bees are very active
I find that the last 2weeks of Aug are when my hives put on most weight
Won't start to worry about ivy till mid Sept

The bramble's long gone and there isn't much ragwort. A couple of my hives were almost empty - they had eaten all the honey. So I'm feeding heavily to ensure they don't starve. And I've even started Apiguard treatment.

Still only that one stretch with flowering ivy although no bees on it. The rest is still only buds, but I'd say they should be in bloom well before your 3-5 weeks.

 

[Tonyatcwfarm]

You are having no season even though you are only an hour and a bit away from me
Strange eh?
We also have the bogs turning purple with the heather here as well so we are far from finished
I still have 13 supers on 5 hives at the moment,might extract the first ones next week and hope to finish first week Sept then I'll vape oxalic

 

[bpmurray]

You are having no season even though you are only an hour and a bit away from me
Strange eh?
We also have the bogs turning purple with the heather here as well so we are far from finished
I still have 13 supers on 5 hives at the moment,might extract the first ones next week and hope to finish first week Sept then I'll vape oxalic

Sounds like you're having a good year - it's been so bad here that I only got around 25lbs from 5 hives and I know some folk who have harvested much less. It rained on the bramble which was my primary source, so that ruined it for me.

 

[Webby]

Buds here

Buds down in the south east too. My garden buddleia are very busy with bees.

 

[Eyeman]

Any suggestions as to how long before this ivy is in bloom?

 

[Erichalfbee]

2 weeks if weather is good
More if it gets cold

 

[Tremyfro]

We have still got ragwort, bramble is still flowering...ivy some time away yet. The HB is is full flower. I'm hoping this fine weather will continue for a bit longer. The bees are so busy!

 

[Plenty of honey]

Ours usually starts around 15th September but it could be a little later. Plenty of buds but no moisture!!
Fed all my hives yesterday and the day before. Their all devoid of pollen. They ivy is that valuable source we need. Queens havent laid much, and brood is minimal, nothing to feed larvae. We need this ivy!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Fed all my hives yesterday and the day before. Their all devoid of pollen. They ivy is that valuable source we need. Queens havent laid much, and brood is minimal, nothing to feed larvae. We need this ivy!!

I have colonies that are similar....the big ones.

 

[beeno]

I have colonies that are similar....the big ones.

I have colonies that are similar... not the big ones. In actual fact I have so much pollen I could have made up some nucs if I only had a few QCs. Be careful what I wish for.