Ah, those cosmopolitan city bees! My back garden (rural village location) hives
are all flying a bit today - it may be cool but it is sunny and there's no
wind. However, I only saw one with (dark orange) pollen.
In previous years there seems to have been a pattern where bees in the larger
towns / city - certainly Oxford, Bicester - start swarming up to 2 weeks
earlier than their countryside cousins. Presumably because of the "heat island"
microclimate of the cities.
By the way this seems a good time to do any necessary gardening round the
hives, there's little activity and the bees don't seem interested as you potter
around. I still wear a veil right next to the hives though.
Paul
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Wednesday, 13 February 2019 14:19, Will H <whanrott@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The bees in the perpetual hive in Headington Hill Hall park were flying at
1pm today -- 13th February.
There were flights every 3-5 seconds and I saw one bee land near me which had
dark red pollen baskets. I couldn't check that she was carrying pollen but it
seems the most likely. There were red Hellebores nearby which I think were
probably the source of the pollen
The flowers in bloom nearby were:
- Hellebore (half a dozen or so within 20m of the hive. Some were red)
- Snowdrop
- Crocus (several hundred in flower within 150m of the hive)
- Mahonia (very few flowers)
- Lawn Daisy (very few flowers)
Pollen is usually a sign that there is brood in the hive. I can't think of
any other reason for collecting.
Will
