I think this project is excellent and I can't understand why it hasn't been done before, probably because nobody had the bright idea until now.
I'm looking forward to the results.
My simplistic thoughts are that if we think about ourselves and our own habits regarding diet overall we like it simple and we like fatty, sugary foods which explains why obesity is increasing. We have our favourites and given a choice ignoring what is bad for us and personal dietary restrictions and cost we would eat even more sugary, fatty foods. When we go out for a bite to eat we often pass several pubs to visit a favourite much further away because the food is much nicer or priced better or both.
I think that bees and butterfly's do the same, why have pork in next doors garden when I can travel to the next village and have lamb instead for the same price. Many of us buy pre packed meals nowadays too, it's easy and requires no effort!!! I think bees and butterfly's are the same, why work harder to get what you want when there's an easier source of food to be had elsewhere.
High energy return for the least effort and our bees, butterfly's and our native wildflowers have evolved perfectly together to achieve this. Our annuals, well most of them are hard work and offer very little so they are largely ignored.
Hi, I think the tech for sequencing DNA of all native wild plants was not available enough or cheap enough until recently. It's a very huge project to accrue all that data. An amazing piece of science.
It would be fascinating if the forum's bee keepers sent in their honey samples and discussed their results. The project is sure to throw up a lot of surprises, esp re the rural/urban split.
Surprising that Oak featured so highly given that it is wind pollinated - must try and look at the trees next spring to see if any bees are evident. Likewise Ash which was no. 11.
Some caveats - this study was only about honeybees and it was only looking at April & May. A lot of garden flowers aren't flowering till later, and from personal experience a lot of species are very attractive to bumblebees. Hopefully the authors will publish further papers looking at mid and late season plants.
I remember reading research from elsewhere that gardens are actually the no. 1 habitat for bumblebees. So you definitely shouldn't draw the conclusion that only native plants are good and garden plants are useless for bees.
Many garden plants are also going to be present in quite small numbers, so even if they only make a very minor contribution to the total they can still be pretty good for pollinating insects per square metre.
Fish & Mark, Bees & a lot of other insects can see in the Ultra Violet which (of course) comes after the blue visible end of the spectrum. There are pictures available on the internet which shows flowers having "honey guides" which are either only visible or much more obvious in the UV. So no surprise that blue flowers are popular with Bees & butterflies.
Posts
I think this project is excellent and I can't understand why it hasn't been done before, probably because nobody had the bright idea until now.
I'm looking forward to the results.
My simplistic thoughts are that if we think about ourselves and our own habits regarding diet overall we like it simple and we like fatty, sugary foods which explains why obesity is increasing. We have our favourites and given a choice ignoring what is bad for us and personal dietary restrictions and cost we would eat even more sugary, fatty foods. When we go out for a bite to eat we often pass several pubs to visit a favourite much further away because the food is much nicer or priced better or both.
I think that bees and butterfly's do the same, why have pork in next doors garden when I can travel to the next village and have lamb instead for the same price. Many of us buy pre packed meals nowadays too, it's easy and requires no effort!!! I think bees and butterfly's are the same, why work harder to get what you want when there's an easier source of food to be had elsewhere.
High energy return for the least effort and our bees, butterfly's and our native wildflowers have evolved perfectly together to achieve this. Our annuals, well most of them are hard work and offer very little so they are largely ignored.
Hi, I think the tech for sequencing DNA of all native wild plants was not available enough or cheap enough until recently. It's a very huge project to accrue all that data. An amazing piece of science.
It would be fascinating if the forum's bee keepers sent in their honey samples and discussed their results. The project is sure to throw up a lot of surprises, esp re the rural/urban split.
The original article in Nature is worth reading - direct link here: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep42838
Surprising that Oak featured so highly given that it is wind pollinated - must try and look at the trees next spring to see if any bees are evident. Likewise Ash which was no. 11.
Some caveats - this study was only about honeybees and it was only looking at April & May. A lot of garden flowers aren't flowering till later, and from personal experience a lot of species are very attractive to bumblebees. Hopefully the authors will publish further papers looking at mid and late season plants.
I remember reading research from elsewhere that gardens are actually the no. 1 habitat for bumblebees. So you definitely shouldn't draw the conclusion that only native plants are good and garden plants are useless for bees.
Many garden plants are also going to be present in quite small numbers, so even if they only make a very minor contribution to the total they can still be pretty good for pollinating insects per square metre.
Regarding annuals, my blue cornflowers seem very popular. Did I read somewhere that bees only see the blue end of the spectrum?
I believe it is more eye catching to them indeed Fishy, Blues & purple tones remain favourites
Yes, plants bred for beauty not pollinators. A mix is the middle way. Also weeds within reason.
Fish & Mark, Bees & a lot of other insects can see in the Ultra Violet which (of course) comes after the blue visible end of the spectrum. There are pictures available on the internet which shows flowers having "honey guides" which are either only visible or much more obvious in the UV. So no surprise that blue flowers are popular with Bees & butterflies.
Indeed Iain. Life and Death on our Lawn program with Chris Packham on BBC Four last week showed it wonderfully, a must watch for wildlife lovers.
Good info. We grow a lot of cerinthe here in France and the bees swarm through it endlessly.
I've also found Viper's Bugloss (echium vulgare) an excellent bee plant and it's flowers are blue