i've got 120 singles in the foothills with some of it close by. they are getting moved out tomorrow headed to montana. fortunately they are going into good feed (cherry orchard) as soon as they get here. i'll be watching for trouble. they are usually headed home before it blooms.
Buckeye is blooming hard.
And the blackberries haven't started... We'll see how this goes...
Anyone else set in the Ca foothills where there is buckeye around?
Anyone else set in the Ca foothills where there is buckeye around?
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Yes, it's blooming up the road from me, not much of it close by that I know of, and yes, the wild blackberries are not blooming yet, but the domestic berries are. The wild berries are putting up buds, they'll be blooming out soon, maybe in a week here.
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When we were picking queens today some of the nucs had the "buckeye shake." They have been working it... Son says they were gathering nectar off of it to which I attribute "the Shakes"
Anyone know if it will make queens shut down!!!
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I'm guessing the damage depends on how much is taken in.
My bees were working the buckeye as well...
My bees were working the buckeye as well...
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If that was the case, it might not be a problem. But these are not surrounded by ornamentals. The wild flowers are near done, black berries haven't come on yet, and the buckeye is blooming. It makes for concentrated amounts of buckeye pollen going into hives.
I'm putting patties on and will watch the queens and brood close.
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Looks like the bloom is just past half over. Buckeye may bloom for a solid three weeks. This Tues I'll be up in that yard again. I'll put on more protein patties if they have taken it all down. I'll check to see if Ive lost any queens or had brood die off. I'm still praying everything is ok.
Someone was asking for pics on chat. I'll put them here to reference.
Edit- the pics make these trees look like bushes. But these shown are growing an a cliff side. They are 15-25' tall and just touch the roadside where I took the pictures (5-2-14; 500 ft elevation, zone 9a).
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Someone was asking for pics on chat. I'll put them here to reference.
Edit- the pics make these trees look like bushes. But these shown are growing an a cliff side. They are 15-25' tall and just touch the roadside where I took the pictures (5-2-14; 500 ft elevation, zone 9a).
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Well, so far so good. The bees build up has been slow, but I'm guessing it has to do with the drought.
It looks like I have one sick queen. She was moving slow and was being ignored by the bees. She would also stand still and her abdomen would shake some. There was a lack of young brood, no eggs, had a superseder cell capped, and two queen cells that looked like they hatched and the cells were being torn down. It looks like the queen went bad. But all the other hives had laying queens with brood of all ages.
Blackberries are now blooming. Just started a week ago. The bees are working them, but I'm not sure if there will be any real flow due to the lack of spring rain. The bees had taken half of their one pound patties. In just over a week.
It looks like I have one sick queen. She was moving slow and was being ignored by the bees. She would also stand still and her abdomen would shake some. There was a lack of young brood, no eggs, had a superseder cell capped, and two queen cells that looked like they hatched and the cells were being torn down. It looks like the queen went bad. But all the other hives had laying queens with brood of all ages.
Blackberries are now blooming. Just started a week ago. The bees are working them, but I'm not sure if there will be any real flow due to the lack of spring rain. The bees had taken half of their one pound patties. In just over a week.
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If your bees moved out on the 3rd, they were on buckeye for only the beginning of the bloom. Maybe a week at most. I'd hope with that small of a window, you shouldn't see any negative affect from it.
Good to hear they made it ok!
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I think it's dang near done under 1,000 ft as long as it's not on water. But around the Bay Area it's still blooming. I'm thinking the cooler air with the extra moisture they get there has it blooming later. The lack of water seems to set off the bloom.
Same here, lots of buckeye, luckily I live by Sutter Creek and there's tons of other stuff blooming. I'm going for a hike this morning, and see if the bees are working the buckeye or not. I just got started this year. Got six packages from Koehnen's and Keith Jarrett filled up 12 deeps for me (awesome!) for helping him. So far all 18 are booming. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
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