It's a good year in the SE for bees, drier & sunnier conditions with minimal rainy days. A particularly splendid year for honey harvesting too, I hear.
However, you are right about the spraying. It won't remain within the fields, wild flowers are often affected near-by & therefore poison the bees. Check out the recent study results in to neonicotinoid insecticides in farming & it's impact. The latest episode of Countryfile covered it as well.
Dove makes a good point about other near by flowers, it's certainly the case for bluebell woods and rapeseed fields in May/June too.
A continued supply of pollen and nectar are necessary from February through till November/December. Queen bumbles emerge from hibernation & look to nest where there's lots of Spring colour (usually bulbs) around March/April, sometimes even earlier. You can read up on ground locations that they like to use & even buy 'bumblebee homes' for the garden.
I find Borage, echiums, Phacelia & purple toadflax the most popular. Remember certain flowers require a pollinator with a longer 'tongue' like bumbles, where as others are more suited to honey and solitary bees. Planting in large clumps is also better, it's more eye catching for us & them. Big shrubs with plenty of blooms are also ideal here, Pycrantha, Weigela & Escallonia.
Leaving your hedges long so they flower is also amazing, we had almost a full hive on our privet this year because it was allowed to get longer & flower. They shouldn't be pruned before August-September because of nesting birds.
Purple/Blue tones are also the favourite flower colours.
It's not very related to the thread, but Mark, I have been reading up about the vision of pollinators and am finding it quite fascinating.
These articles are on why bees and most insect pollinators can't see red and why some rare people have ultra-violet vision (like Monet). In hotter climes (where most of our UK red flowers come from originally) the reds are pollinated by birds, who have the colour receptors in their eye for red. In evolutionary terms - 'niche partition'. Apparently bees eyes have most receptors for purple, violet and blue.
My favourite flowers are always dark reds, which poses a bit of a problem for a wildlife garden.
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Weather does have a huge impact on bees. If it's been wet where you are it might have discouraged them.
It's a good year in the SE for bees, drier & sunnier conditions with minimal rainy days. A particularly splendid year for honey harvesting too, I hear.
However, you are right about the spraying. It won't remain within the fields, wild flowers are often affected near-by & therefore poison the bees. Check out the recent study results in to neonicotinoid insecticides in farming & it's impact. The latest episode of Countryfile covered it as well.
Dove makes a good point about other near by flowers, it's certainly the case for bluebell woods and rapeseed fields in May/June too.
A continued supply of pollen and nectar are necessary from February through till November/December. Queen bumbles emerge from hibernation & look to nest where there's lots of Spring colour (usually bulbs) around March/April, sometimes even earlier. You can read up on ground locations that they like to use & even buy 'bumblebee homes' for the garden.
I find Borage, echiums, Phacelia & purple toadflax the most popular. Remember certain flowers require a pollinator with a longer 'tongue' like bumbles, where as others are more suited to honey and solitary bees. Planting in large clumps is also better, it's more eye catching for us & them. Big shrubs with plenty of blooms are also ideal here, Pycrantha, Weigela & Escallonia.
Leaving your hedges long so they flower is also amazing, we had almost a full hive on our privet this year because it was allowed to get longer & flower. They shouldn't be pruned before August-September because of nesting birds.
Purple/Blue tones are also the favourite flower colours.
Last edited: 07 July 2017 14:13:41
It's not very related to the thread, but Mark, I have been reading up about the vision of pollinators and am finding it quite fascinating.
These articles are on why bees and most insect pollinators can't see red and why some rare people have ultra-violet vision (like Monet). In hotter climes (where most of our UK red flowers come from originally) the reds are pollinated by birds, who have the colour receptors in their eye for red. In evolutionary terms - 'niche partition'. Apparently bees eyes have most receptors for purple, violet and blue.
My favourite flowers are always dark reds, which poses a bit of a problem for a wildlife garden.
http://www.beeculture.com/bees-see-matters/ (A bit rambly but interesting)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC521733/