What are bees foraging on at present

[Russ 242]

Rewarewa is a no show for me this season.

[jamesc 3576]

All's good ..... we still putting bees into radishes. Bird in the hand ......  looked pretty black over there again tonight.

[nikki watts 711]

1 minute ago, jamesc said:

All's good ..... we still putting bees into radishes. Bird in the hand ......  looked pretty black over there again tonight.

Just curious, what does radish honey taste like ?

[jamesc 3576]

Good question ..... and to be honest I have no idea ..... as generally the bees go in with with  half a box of dew, clover is flowering, along with the borage ..... and the honey comes  out at a 24 ish colour ...... three boxes of low grade multi floral ..... the nice part is the rental fee.  

1 hour ago, Bighands said:

For the 1st time in many years the Westland quintinia has not flowered and I do not think the Kamahi is going to do itys thing.I am talking about the Otira valley.The Kamahi is flowering in the Taramakau but not the Otira so chances of a S. Rata showing are very slim. Bye the way it is still raining and temps are forecast low teens.

Coast Manuka must be pouring in .... right ?

[kaihoka 2711]

11 minutes ago, jamesc said:

Coast Manuka must be pouring in .... right ?

No way manuka would produce in current coast weather.

Even though its flowering as good as I have seen .

1 hour ago, Bighands said:

For the 1st time in many years the Westland quintinia has not flowered and I do not think the Kamahi is going to do itys thing.I am talking about the Otira valley.The Kamahi is flowering in the Taramakau but not the Otira so chances of a S. Rata showing are very slim. Bye the way it is still raining and temps are forecast low teens.

That sucks for you .

Kamahi has pretty much finished here. Had a really good flower .

The rata just starting , plenty of buds .

Just need a month of sunny windless weather

24 minutes ago, nikki watts said:

Just curious, what does radish honey taste like ?

Mustard honey is pretty nice , I think raddish would be similar .

Quite a light honey .

[mischief 118]

My 'True Greek' Oregano is getting loads of visitors from mid morning to early evening, even though its in partial shade and not full sun.

[tommy dave 988]

Clover and nodding thistle..

Packing it in - added two supers each hive, one dry, one wet. See if they end up full by mid.march

[Alastair 7524]

If there is any kind of a flow still going, putting on a wet super is the way to get the bees straight down to work. 🙂

[Philbee 4670]

Ive just got in from a drive down the western access road  (32)and over to Omori
I see hives returning from the Manuka siting in the barren  scorched paddocks.

What stood out was the poor state of the Koromiko, its about 1/3 it's usual self.

Id say that there's barely a drop of nectar in anything for the Hives to put away for winter.
If this season draws out like the previous two then the Bees will be flying for 3 months yet, all for nothing.

Just burning stores and spreading Mites

Edited February 14 by Philbee

[john berry 4812]

One of my sites has a hillside of koromiko just across the road from it or it did. I was up there today and the whole hillside has gone up in flames. Fortunately it didn't get to the bees but it was close enough..

[kaihoka 2711]

6 hours ago, Philbee said:

Ive just got in from a drive down the western access road  (32)and over to Omori
I see hives returning from the Manuka siting in the barren  scorched paddocks.

What stood out was the poor state of the Koromiko, its about 1/3 it's usual self.

Id say that there's barely a drop of nectar in anything for the Hives to put away for winter.
If this season draws out like the previous two then the Bees will be flying for 3 months yet, all for nothing.

Just burning stores and spreading Mites

Its going to rain all next week .

Normally that would really annoy me but right now I am.ok with that .

[Philbee 4670]

5 minutes ago, kaihoka said:

Its going to rain all next week .

Normally that would really annoy me but right now I am.ok with that .

I wonder if the Koromiko will come back to life?

In our deep gorge its fine but out on the flat land in the drying wind its fried 

Edited February 14 by Philbee

[kaihoka 2711]

49 minutes ago, Philbee said:

I wonder if the Koromiko will come back to life?

In our deep gorge its fine but out on the flat land in the drying wind its fried 

My bush hebes are fine but I noticed a couple of ornamental hebes on a dry bank are looking a bit sick .

The ground here has finally lost its moisture so the rain has come just in time .

I think we will be one of the last places adversely affected by climate change.

Everything here is used to adapting to difficult  conditions .

 

[Bighands 889]

Red Rata Vine is flowering in Greymouth. This tells me autumn is here. This is the last plant to flower in the bush before winter.

[YTB8TA270 18]

8 hours ago, Bighands said:

Red Rata Vine is flowering in Greymouth. This tells me autumn is here. This is the last plant to flower in the bush before winter.

The white rata vine has just burst out in flower this last week here along with five finger and broard leaf. Bees very happy when sunny. No red vine flowers yet.

[kaihoka 2711]

3 hours ago, YTB8TA270 said:

The white rata vine has just burst out in flower this last week here along with five finger and broard leaf. Bees very happy when sunny. No red vine flowers yet.

Our white rata finishing early I think.

Some red vine flowering but bees are never so interested in that .

[YTB8TA270 18]

5 hours ago, kaihoka said:

Our white rata finishing early I think.

Some red vine flowering but bees are never so interested in that .

White Rata,Koromiko and Lancewood is full on now. Definitely later than last couple of years.Had extracted  and had Bayvarol strips in by this time last year.