Bees don't really start flying until temperatures get into the upper 50s. Our hives are in a nice sunny location, so I've seen them get warm enough to do cleansing flights near the hives in slightly cooler temperatures. But the hustle and bustle of the spring hive rebuilding doesn't really happen until it gets warmer.
Even before the trees have visible leaves, the bees find pollen. This year, we started seeing activity around the hives and the first pollen collected (that I noticed) on February 21. Though the hives weren't super busy, workers like this one were pulling in pollen regularly enough that it didn't take me long to get a picture of one wearing her "pollen pants" as she returned to the hive with full pollen baskets. In the wider shot, the snow is still on the ground!Based on a chart from Wikipedia, I think this particular bee was carrying red maple pollen.
We discovered a couple of weeks after these pictures were taken that the second hive in the photo, the "green hive," had actually not survived the winter. The activity we saw around the hive was probably bees from the other hives robbing the honey from the dead hive.
Pollen may be the first sign of spring, but it's not the most important. See, the bees are still living on whatever they stored from last year (we've supplemented that, but that's another post). So, what we need to make sure the remaining three survive are flowers. Flowers signal the start of the nectar flow, and nectar means the increasing population can find its own food.
Today, I saw the first concrete sign that the nectar flow will start soon. Most people probably don't even notice this harbinger of honey in my area. It's a little weed called purple deadnettle. Deadnettle and its close cousin, henbit, are some of the earliest nectar sources for bees. They are growing now in our lawn.
Of course, the bees are still working the trees in early April, and they are collecting pollen like crazy.
But it's the flowers that have me looking forward to another honey harvest and another year of watching the bees.
You have made me appreciate bees in a way I was sure I never would. I actually felt sad when you said the green hive didn't survive. I'm not sure how I feel about this.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to read this about bees! Although I haven't studied them nor been around them, I understand their importance. But they don't like me. After two attacks from them in childhood, I think they still smell my fear of them. :D
ReplyDeleteWasps are the ones I loathe. The bees largely ignore me unless I'm foolish or careless enough to squish one--can't blame a little bee girl from defending herself from a giant!
DeleteThanks for coming by.
Yikes...bees! I always want to hide when I see even one. I can't imagine working with thousands of them.
ReplyDeleteI admit, it's much easier with a bee jacket and veil. ;) Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteLove bees. Sorry you feel uncomfortable around them though, Stephanie. I had about eleventy billion honey bees swarming around my lavender lately. I wondered if maybe their honey would be lavender scented haha
ReplyDeleteActually, it might! If bees gather from a particular nectar source, that will flavor the honey. But it's really tough to tell bees what to do or to control where they collect.
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Debra!
Wow, that's really cool. o.o I'm sorry that one of your hives didn't survive, but I had no idea that you could tell from where pollen had come from, just by observing the bee.
ReplyDeleteI have learned so much from the bees. they are fascinating little creatures. It's soothing to sit and watch them come and go.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
Like the other readers, I found the information about bees (like where the pollen came from) interesting. Bees are little creatures that need more credit for all they do.
ReplyDeleteCarey from abundance in the boondocks
Thanks, Carey. I don't even claim to know nearly all there is to know. I keep learning.
DeleteI suspect I'll find a connection to post about again. We inspected the hives this weekend, and even had a guy who asked questions suit up and watch,
Loved it ,I had an uncle who kept Bees and I still think about his interesting observations, your post took me right back to those family dinner conversations #a2zchallenge ☮Peace ☮ ღ ONE ℒℴνℯ ღ ☼ Light ☼ visiting from http://4covert2overt.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI am constantly amazed by how many people have had connections to beekeeping. I would have loved to have been there for those dinner conversations.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.