The report from the East

[gavin]

I was up bright and early this morning and am currently writing from an East Coast train approaching the border with England. Usually by now the oilseed rape is starting to extend upwards, but this year it has been held back and looks like being weeks later than recent years. No surprise there then! Hazel (used for pollen if there is nothing else around) would often be over but is in full flower in many places. I had said that willow was nearly out in some favoured spots, but most of it is still sitting tight. The warming weather in the next few days may bring it on.

I'll be gazing out the window all the way to London, so I'll let you know later what is happening in the warm South.

G.

[Calum]

Hi there!
thin carpet of snow here. Hazel and Willow were in bloom but the cold snap put the brakes on that.
The colonies are still sitting on pleanty of stores so no need to feed them (I don't agree that it is good to feed them unless they have nothing else).

In the middle of April things will be in full swing here. Sold 4 colonies last night so on a high today. On the way to London today aswell!

[gavin]

Hi Calum

Does your hazel also tend to get frosted? Here it tries to flower, gets hit by the frosts, maybe tries again, and often ends the season with little chance to shed its pollen. If I was a hazel bush I think that I'd wait a bit! I suspect it is adapted for this kind of winter where the cold holds it back until the risk of hard frosts is lessened.

Many of us skimp on autumn feeding and so by now - especially in a winter/autumn when they used a lot of any feed they were given to raise winter bees - they can be at risk of starvation.

Are prices for bees in Germany as silly as they are here?

I'll be back home before midnight I hope!

G.

[Calum]

Hi Gavin,
yes the hazel comes and goes. It doesn't need to try hard - the bees go flock to it - there is usually not much else on the go this early (ok snowdrops and crocusus). I guess they are just beating the competition that way.

Skimping on autumn feeding- does that not amount to cruelty? Here we give 3:2 sugar:water 18kg for colonies still on more than 10 frames in autumn. Or 12kg + whatever they will take to the nucs.
The bees are the most important element in beekeeping - why risk a colony and its product of want of a couple of pounds of sugar? It happens here too- it is beyond me. Some promote the idea of excluding these beekeepers from clubs. Their weakend bees spread diseases too. ok rant over.
Prices here are ranging from 75- 110pounds for a ten frame (Zander) nuc. Depends alot on the queen. Reports are 20-30% Losses here so the prices may go up more yet. Have a good trip!

[POPZ]

Everyone on the move today? I am just about to depart for the first of two ferries to the mainland. Then, leaving the mild w.coast air, will climb up through lovely Glencoe, then with two extra jerseys on, will cross Rannoch and descend down again to eventually arrive in the grand metropolis of Perth. Geographically not very far, but climate wise, a world of difference.

So Like yourself, I shall be catkin, willow, bud watching. Incidentally, just been up to my hive to heft it as they really busy now and wary about them running out of nosh - but they seem ok. Anyway, one of the dafs has actually burst from it's bud - first of the year on my patch.

[Trog]

I returned by that same route yesterday. Snow's really melted fast - much less than there was on Friday. I shouldn't think you'll need the extra jerseys! Interestingly, gorse seen while walking in Perthshire was nowhere near flowering; it's further on in the west! Never seen my bees bothering with hazel pollen though they have hazel right next to the apiary (literally two feet away) and the pollen's ready. Willow not yet in flower, just budding.

[gavin]

The gorse is also further on right on the east coast (Berwickshire is where I saw it) compared to Perthshire. Have to say too that all of the plant life for a few miles around Auchterarder was in a sorry state when I saw it on Sunday. Gorse on the embankments all on a heavy lean, many many big branches snapped off the trees, grass with that flattened look you get high in the hills where a large weight of snow has been pressing down for months. So anyone living near that worst snow-affected area has my sympathies. The snow is still deep in patches around there.

Here in middle England although the grass has a touch more green than further north, the willows are still at the silvery stage in the main.

G.

[POPZ]

I returned by that same route yesterday. Snow's really melted fast - much less than there was on Friday. I shouldn't think you'll need the extra jerseys!

Trog - you were right! Only one jersey but still 5C cooler than home. Everywhere pretty barren other than the most amazing amount of things called traffic lights - roads up, bridges up and anything else you can think of up! The snowdrops here in central belt are behind ours as is just about everything really. Not seen any catkins in full flower anywhere, in fact I just want to get home again asap!
POPZ

[Trog]

Oh yes, those traffic light thingies. I think what you do with those, Popz, is to speed up when you see a red one and slow down for the green ones. Or something. ;)

Failing that, try leaving the red lights to port and the green ones to starboard. And vice-versa on the way home! :D

[POPZ]

Trog - thanks for that - great help. But wondered why all those guys in yellow hats were waving to me. Friendly lot!!

[Trog]

I hope you waved back, Popz!