LimeWatch UK

[Dodge]

Limes coming into Flower in Solihull, temperature at 0930 18c, humidity is 54% damn. All from local weather station.

Thought after all the rain that given some heat humidity would be nice and high.

 

[Haughton Honey]

Limes coming into Flower in Solihull, temperature at 0930 18c, humidity is 54% damn. All from local weather station.

Thought after all the rain that given some heat humidity would be nice and high.

Wait until next week.

 

[madasafish]

All lime flowers in local park tightly closed.. Hardly surprising considering the autumn we have just experienced.

 

[beebopper]

Flowers open. Warm humid weather. Virtually ignored by all bees (bumble and honey).

 

[coatesg]

Noticed limes in Oxford have started to open - those in the countryside appear a little off still.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Heavy flow in North London. Went through four Hackney colonies this afternoon; nectar fell out of the combs like water and splashed all down the beesuit.

 

[Roola]

Heavy flow in North London. Went through four Hackney colonies this afternoon; nectar fell out of the combs like water and splashed all down the beesuit.

Agreed, hives in Walthamstow and Wanstead overflowing! Privet and bramble is my guess.

 

[beebopper]

Same in South London. Looking at Kent hives this weekend - judging by activity there is also a flow on here.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Some lime going over in Stoke Newington; yellow fluff (probably a technical name for the dead pollen things) all over the ground.

Noticed HB on bees near Hackney Marshes; privet is doing well; clover here and there where the zealots don't cut it. Five miles further out, away from the warmth of urban traffic (you should see the twice-daily tailback on the Lea Bridge Road) plenty of lime still to come.

 

[thedozzer]

Some lime going over in Stoke Newington; yellow fluff (probably a technical name for the dead pollen things) all over the ground.

Noticed HB on bees near Hackney Marshes; privet is doing well; clover here and there where the zealots don't cut it. Five miles further out, away from the warmth of urban traffic (you should see the twice-daily tailback on the Lea Bridge Road) plenty of lime still to come.

In mid Essex some of it is all ready on the turn with about half of the Stamen are turning yellow and dropping of, think in some of the cooler woodlands they may be a bit behind.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Stamen! Thanks; heat fried the memory.

 

[Brian Bush]

The limes adjacent to my home in Buckinghamshire are in full bloom. The hives by them are mainly foraging elsewhere. Yesterday I watched butterflies and bumbles on the limes but few honey bees. Over the past 7 or 8 years I have only had one year when the limes were roaring with bees.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

The limes adjacent to my home in Buckinghamshire are in full bloom. The hives by them are mainly foraging elsewhere. Yesterday I watched butterflies and bumbles on the limes but few honey bees. Over the past 7 or 8 years I have only had one year when the limes were roaring with bees.

+1

 

[Fritillary]

Similar here - wonderful scent under the trees here today. I've got a sprig in front of me now, still lovely. On all the trees, I saw about a dozen bumbles and two wasps. And lots of honey bees on the brambles. I ask you.

 

[Amari]

The limes adjacent to my home in Buckinghamshire are in full bloom. The hives by them are mainly foraging elsewhere. Yesterday I watched butterflies and bumbles on the limes but few honey bees. Over the past 7 or 8 years I have only had one year when the limes were roaring with bees.

I have a row of nine limes in full bloom beside my apiary. I can only just hear a hum. Some bumble bees but few honey bees to be seen. The trees are about 30 years old.
Over the decades there has been much discussion on the variability of lime-yield. A local aborist tells me that most modern plantings are cultivars rather than species - maybe the explanation?

 

[Beefriendly]

There are at least 30 different species of lime, all with flowers that produce nectar..but the problem is the flowers and nectar. The flowers are open and nectar secretion requires high temperatures and occurs only in the morning which means on "normal" days it either isn't produced or has dried up by the time the bees get to work on it....it's why humid days are needed so the nectar remains liquid...conditions that occur rarely.
Beutler and Wahl estimated you needed 40 average lime trees for 1 hive to increase in weight by 4lbs daily (Bee world 1938).

But what lime trees do have in abundance is honeydew....which attracts lots of other insects particularly bumbles.

 

[ericbeaumont]

A good source of lime information is in Frank Howes' Plants and Beekeeping (Faber & Faber 1945 & 1979) which can be picked up on eBay, starting at £6.13 and going up to £145, or Abe Books starting at £3.44. He writes for six pages on limes and includes a chart of flowering periods. It is such a good book that William Kirk came to an agreement to absorb much of it in his bible Plants for Bees (IBRA, 2010).

 

[Brian Bush]

I have a row of nine limes in full bloom beside my apiary. I can only just hear a hum. Some bumble bees but few honey bees to be seen. The trees are about 30 years old.
Over the decades there has been much discussion on the variability of lime-yield. A local aborist tells me that most modern plantings are cultivars rather than species - maybe the explanation?

The lime trees here are over 150 years old. They were planted to provide an avenue to the 'big house' when it was built in 1857. I assume they are English Linden Trees not modern cultivars.

 

[ericbeaumont]

The lime trees here are over 150 years old. They were planted to provide an avenue to the 'big house' when it was built in 1857. I assume they are English Linden Trees not modern cultivars.

Brian, I heard along the way that very old limes produce less nectar, but cannot support that with anything more concrete.

 

[enrico]

Good point, my producers were also an ancient lime avenue. In my new location the bes don't seem interested in smaller trees!
E