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Bees

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:17 am
by jal_ut
[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/bees_april_20.jpg[/img]

I wonder if that is enough bees to pollinate my garden?

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:40 am
by cynthia_h
Um...I dunno; looks like a lot of white hive boxes to me! :lol: Are they full of colonies of bees? It's kind of hard to tell from here... :wink:

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:53 am
by orgoveg
That's awesome. I'm not too concerned about my local population with the mild winter along with early and abundant sightings of bees this spring. My son tells me that the hive in a nearby tree is extremely active. He watched them attack a bird that landed near the hive.

I hear that the US Postal Service is having issues dealing with the bee shipments this year. There is alot more interest in beekeeping now than there has ever been in recent history. That's good news.

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:22 am
by nosta
I don't know....looks like maybe too many. I would be willing to give a good home to a couple od hives for you. :D

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:42 am
by applestar
:D Are they starting to stir yet?

In my garden, bumble bees are very active, and small probably native bees, but not many honeybees yet. I'll see a lot more of them once the clovers start blooming.

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 7:34 am
by Ruffsta
I hate bees.. and I garden.. go figure!

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:07 pm
by jal_ut
Yes, 28 colonies, and yes, they are very active when the temp is above 50°. Most days now get that warm. We even got into the upper 60s the other day.

Dandelions and fruit trees are blooming. The bees are loving these blossoms. Our big honey flow comes from alfalfa, but that is in June and July.

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 7:48 pm
by SPierce
I am SO jealous! As soon as I get my own place, bee keeping is definitely on my to-do list! Until then, I'm simply enjoying all of the bees that are coming around our beds full of hostas, and planting some flowers in my garden in the back to convince a few to head to the back yard too :D

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:49 pm
by Gary350
Hay.....thats not fair. I want some too.

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:57 pm
by Francis Barnswallow
I found a few wasp nests in my neighbors bushes. I have seen wasps flying in and around my garden lately. And I'm not gonna tell the neighbor about them either. :>

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:34 pm
by stryper
Back in March, the bumble bees were all over our Wisteria. I had cut it back over the "winter" and there were purple blossoms everywhere. When you walked by it the bush literally hummed.

Can't wait to see what they do this summer. Hopefully, the cold snap, as brief as it was, didn't do them in.

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:42 am
by Duets
You are a much braver soul than I am.

I just took down one of the hummingbird feeders here, because the yellow-jackets took it over, yikes. Ha, I hung a wind chime in it's place. I still have hummingbirds visiting & I have one bumble bee, who sounds like a B2 bomber who visits. :D

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:08 am
by PunkRotten
Do bumble bees like particular flowers or something? I never see them. I've got 2 different hummingbirds regularly visiting my garden. One of them actually tries to chase the other one off. I am seeing a lot more bee activity since adding a lemon tree and lime tree, plus other flowers.

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:35 am
by GardenGnome
I get every bee type in my yard. Bee, some blacks ones that are bigger then bees but all black and shine, and bumble bee's the buzz is so loud you can hear it across the yard.

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:54 am
by Duets
PunkRotten wrote:Do bumble bees like particular flowers or something? I never see them. I've got 2 different hummingbirds regularly visiting my garden. One of them actually tries to chase the other one off. I am seeing a lot more bee activity since adding a lemon tree and lime tree, plus other flowers.
I purposely plant a variation of flowers in the garden to help with polinizaton.

Different pollinators are lured by certain colored flowers. Mostly red, yellow, & orange, & purple will do the trick!! Hummingbirds prefer tubular flowers that will accomodate their beak, such as tullips; while others prefer the flat-er flowers, such as bees etc.

https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/plant-pollination-process.html

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:59 am
by PunkRotten
Yeah the hummingbirds seem to be fond of the Aloe Vera flowers.

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:00 am
by jal_ut
Different bees are attracted to different flowers. I have a flowering plum that is just loaded with bloom. The small wild bees and bumble bees are all over it, yet the honey bees are avoiding it. Go figure. The honey bees are all over the apple trees and dandelions. None of the bees seem attracted to the daffodils and tulips. The honey bees are working the grape hyacinths. Its fun to watch the bees.

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:05 am
by GardenGnome
I was standing by my apple tree watching them go from blossom to blossom. Little underside packed with pollen. Once my english leather bushes flower I get thousands of bees.

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:20 am
by orgoveg
I don't know much about bees, but I know the honeybees spend most of their time on the white clovers all over my lawn. I do my best to avoid mowing when they are around. You might benefit from letting weeds grow in your grass instead of killing them off.