Colony Collapse Disorder....Honey Bee Decline

[boggybranch]

According to Bee Keeping 101, "Aristotle did much research on bee keeping (he noted) that bees don't visit flowers of different kinds on one flight, but remain constant to one species."

Now, if this is true, would someone, with only a small "kitchen" garden, benefit from keeping a hive of bees?

 

[hoodat]

According to Bee Keeping 101, "Aristotle did much research on bee keeping (he noted) that bees don't visit flowers of different kinds on one flight, but remain constant to one species."

Now, if this is true, would someone, with only a small "kitchen" garden, benefit from keeping a hive of bees?

Jim probably know more about this than I do but my experience is that if a certain crop is more plentiful than others that's where they concentrate but if no one type is super abundant they take whatever they can get. I've seen the same bees start harvesting my Chinese broccoli and then top off on the mustard if they don't have a full load already.

 

[boggybranch]

For several years, I have entertained the thought of keeping a hive of bees. But, my sweetheart was terrified of the idea, so I never went further than "the thought". Things have changed, now, and having done some research on bee keeping, today, it appears that there are a lot of varibles that seem to make the activity kinda complicated. Of course, reading about something makes it seem that way whereas "hands on", sorta, simplifies the process (we've, probably, all put a swingset together). Relating to anything, visually, is easier to learn than trying to visualize it through words.

 

[simple life]

You would still benefit from keeping bees because while they will fly up to 5 miles if necessary to get nectar some will start out as close to home as possible.
I have seen bees come out of my hives and only have to go a few inches to the flowers I keep there and they will work those flowers.
Then some will go around to the front or to the vegetable garden and the rest will fly off to where ever but my yard is very well pollinated.
I have watched bees go from one type of flower to another in one flight.
If you watch bees returning to the hive though it seems they usually only have one type of pollen in their leg pouches.
They will fly in with orange/white/purple/yellow etc. saddlebags so it appears when they collect pollen they may stick with the same flowers or maybe at the time their happens to be an abundance of pollen and they don't need to check out other flowers.
Nectar may be a different story since I have watched bees flit from one flower to another.

Either way, if you are interested in keeping bees you will benefit no matter what, everyone around you benefits.

 

[lesa]

I would highly recommend it, boggy! My garden was never more beautiful or bountiful, than when I added my bees. They do seem to have a preference, but when the pickings are slim- late in the season, I see them on flowers they ignore, mid-summer. You have quite an extensive garden, I imagine you will have enough for your hive. If not, they know where to find more...

 

[JimWWhite]

I know my neighbor said the very same thing about our bees. She said she'd never seen her garden be so productive or her flowers be so healthy. As far as bees perferring to stick to a certain type of plant for some time I'd think they probably would. When a bee comes upon a rich forage she takes her nectar and pollen back to the hive and drops it off to a caretaker bee who stores it away in the hive. Then she'll go into a little dance for the other bees to describe the what and where of her find. From what I can see when bees are coming back in from a foraging visit they almost always have the same color of pollen on their leg sacks. For instance we have a lot of rape (canola) in fields about a mile away. For several weeks this past spring and early summer the bees would be coated with yellow. Then suddenly it changed over to an orange pollen which I have no idea what that was. Then came white which I'd bet was the white dutch clover that was prolific this year. They find it and they'll work themselves to death collecting it and get it back to the hive before the supply dwindles. Sometimes I'd just sit out there next to the hive and watch them coming and going. They were all over my vegetable garden all summer long with various things in bloom. They especially like the big okra blossoms and the corn tassles. The orange pollen may have been the corn pollen now that I think about it...

 

[lesa]

I am surprised they worked the corn, Jim. Very interesting! Bees truly are the most amazing creatures! Fingers crossed that mine make it through the winter...

 

[JimWWhite]

I am surprised they worked the corn, Jim. Very interesting! Bees truly are the most amazing creatures! Fingers crossed that mine make it through the winter...

If you've not done it already make sure you slip in a corrugated sheet of plastic beneath the bottom board of your hive in order to cut down on cold air entering the hive from below. You can get it from you local beekeeping supply house or go to an art store and buy a sheet and cut it down to size to fit. This weekend I'm also going to take several bales of straw and stack them up around our hive on the sides and back to give them a little insulation too. Probably overkill down here but it won't hurt anything. Besides I'll just reuse the straw in the spring to mulch the planter boxes with.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola

Please note two heading one called Genetic Modification and Other facts.

Canola/rapeseed......here is once source where bees are picking up their death nell thanks to GM tinkering. GM crops, man's gift to man.