Herald - Issue 405

Page 44 • The HERALD • 22nd April 2021 v SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SPECIALISTS v | DOWN THE GARDEN PATH | Contact Nick 07825 662955 or 023 8017 3186 (office) • Local Domestic and Commercial Tree Surgeons • Hedging work • Tree reductions • Thinning • Tree dismantles • Arboricultural reports and Surveys • Fencing Free no obligation quotation, and free advice E: enquiries@langleyarb.com W: www.langleyarb.com THE TREE WIZARD All aspects of tree surgery, garden maintenance and landscaping undertaken Family run business for over 20 years No Job Too Big or Small Please call 07552 977731 for a Free Quotation What time of year is honey produced? Honey is produced when nectar is available for the bees to collect, when there are plenty of owers out. When they have stored excess, beekeepers harvest the honey. ere is usually a spring crop – April to June – and a summer crop – August to October. In between, (June gap), beekeepers don’t crop the honey, so the bees don’t go hungry. Pollen provides protein, given mainly to the babies. Nectar is the energy (carbohydrate) which bees collect to make their winter stores. ey eat this until the weather warms and owers appear. Which plants and flowers do bees like? eir favourite are single open owers - easy access to nectar and pollen. In Spring: flowers mainly produce pollen. Favourites include blossoms, especially fruit trees-cherry, apricot, apple. Snowdrops, crocuses. Mahonia. Rapeseed. Hedge and tree blossoms. In Summer – flowers mainly produce nectar - bees get busy making winter stores of honey. Purple/blue flowers e.g., lavender, passionflower, clover. Yellows flowers e.g., sunflower; borage, catmint, dandelion. Blossoms e.g., blackberry, raspberry. Poppies, herbs, bean flowers, wild grass, and flower areas. Tree blossom e.g., sweet chestnut. In Autumn – heather, ivy pollen and nectar. In Winter - hellebores. Are bees easy to keep? Not really, they are animals, there is lots to learn, bees need to be well-managed to prevent diseases (viruses and mites) – they need regular maintenance, nurturing, lots of specialist kit and equipment. For further information email Amanda: beekeeper. honey.uk@outlook.com. Instagram: @beekeeper. honey. Facebook: @beekeeperHoneyUK. Everyone at the club would like to thank Amanda for sharing her expert knowledge. Foresters Flower Club is aiming (virus depending) to re-open 1st July 2021 for more information call Debbie Thorne on: 07769 830752. BEES AND FLOWERS by the Foresters Flower Club Amanda John is Head of Organisations at Beekeeper, near Brackley, Northamptonshire. Amanda kindly shared her expert knowledge with us: When do Bees wake up after winter? Bees don’t hibernate, they are always working, but y if the temperature is greater than 10°C, usually mid-March, when it’s sunnier and pollen is available. e hive is kept at 32 to 35°C. Too hot and worker bees fan the entrance; too cold they vibrate their ight muscles to raise the temperature. e Queen produces her brood aiming for peak numbers of young ready for summer owers in June and July.