Bee-cotted!

[french frank]

I planted two young hawthorn trees, now both established, mainly to attract the birds with their berries, but not doubting that the blossom would be attractive to the bees. Now that both are in full bloom, I noticed that the bees which have just started appearing are bee-cotting the hawthorns. It seems that the blossom is only sporadically attractive to bees (like once every 5-6 years) for a reason imperfectly understood. Whatever the reason, this isn't one of the years where they're finding the nectar. They fly around it, rarely pitching, but if they do, they fly off again immediately. The sorbus is the hero at the moment, until other plants begin to flower (but the berries are bird-cotted because most of them are white: nature can be fussy ).

[oddoneout]

Well you live and learn; thank you for that ff.
In the sorbus' country of origin do you suppose there are birds which do eat the white berries? Or possibly other animals, as I suppose it might be something to do with what colours birds can 'see' - they don't go after 'white' strawberries or currants.

[french frank]

In the sorbus' country of origin do you suppose there are birds which do eat the white berries?

I can't quite remember, but I think the sorbus is cashmiriana - not sure what birds would be around in its natural surroundings! It's been graftered on to an aucuparia rootstock which is throwing up new shoots and last year had red berries, but so far the branch (which after two years is as thick as any of those on the 8-year-old tree) is not blossoming. I may have to keep it vigorously pruned as my backyard isn't suitable for a fully grown mountain ash - hence the smaller grafted one. The hawthorns are likewise cultivars rather than the wild variety.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

In that "one in every 5 - 6 years", do they become "bee-sotted"?

[french frank]

In that "one in every 5 - 6 years", do they become "bee-sotted"?

Sotted and sated, no doubt, greedy little beasts

[vinteuil]

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... 'sporadically' - but perhaps not bee-ennial.


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[french frank]

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... 'sporadically' - but perhaps not bee-ennial.


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Looks as if this thread title might have been a mistake

[doversoul1]

I planted two young hawthorn trees, now both established, mainly to attract the birds with their berries, but not doubting that the blossom would be attractive to the bees. Now that both are in full bloom, I noticed that the bees which have just started appearing are bee-cotting the hawthorns. It seems that the blossom is only sporadically attractive to bees (like once every 5-6 years) for a reason imperfectly understood. Whatever the reason, this isn't one of the years where they're finding the nectar. They fly around it, rarely pitching, but if they do, they fly off again immediately. The sorbus is the hero at the moment, until other plants begin to flower (but the berries are bird-cotted because most of them are white: nature can be fussy ).

If the bees are not interested in your hawthorn flowers, it may be that the temperature is not high enough for the nectar to flow. Or if there is another source in bulk nearby, such as oilseed rape, bees tend to ignore a few flowers here and there.

[french frank]

If the bees are not interested in your hawthorn flowers, it may be that the temperature is not high enough for the nectar to flow. Or if there is another source in bulk nearby, such as oilseed rape, bees tend to ignore a few flowers here and there.

It could be temperature. I fancy the bees are late arriving, presumably due to the coldish weather, and they aren't buzzing much! But the hawthorns are a mass of blossom, one white, one red.

[cloughie]

It could be temperature. I fancy the bees are late arriving, presumably due to the coldish weather, and they aren't buzzing much! But the hawthorns are a mass of blossom, one white, one red.

I find this subject fascinating!

[Constantbee]

It could be temperature. I fancy the bees are late arriving, presumably due to the coldish weather, and they aren't buzzing much! But the hawthorns are a mass of blossom, one white, one red.

That sounds a picture FF It's supposed to be quite easy to take cuttings from hawthorns, too. You sometimes see the red hawthorn in pinker shades in the wild.

The keeper’s copy of FN Howes’ ‘Plants and Beekeeping’ (dusts off toast crumbs ... glad it was only a second hand ex-library copy) has the following to say about hawthorn:

‘As a bee plant the hawthorn is notoriously fickle, being a good source
of nectar in some seasons but not in others or in some districts but
not others. Attempts to correlate this with soil or with moisture and
temperature conditions have not so far met with success and the
reasons for this fickleness remain obscure at present. The seasons
when hawthorn is a good honey source only come round at long
intervals. In some parts of the country 1943 was a good year as were
1911 and 1933.

Sometimes hawthorn blossoms will be worked well and yield honey freely
in one area while a mile or two away under apparently similar
conditions the blossoms may be deserted by bees. In a district which
gives a good hawthorn flow one year the flowers for several succeeding
years may offer little attraction. When the flow from hawthorn does
occur it is usually very rapid and the smell of the flowers is easily
detected in the hives while the nectar is being brought in.

In the hawthorn flower the nectar is secreted by the receptacle or
base and is half concealed. In cold or dull weather the inner stamens
remain curved inwards but open out in sunshine exposing the nectar
more fully.

There are two species of hawthorn, although the differences between
them are slight and they seem to be of similar value as bee
plants. Crataegus monogyna is the more abundant and widespread
species, C.oxyacantha being confined more to the south-east of the
country. The numerous ornamental forms of May with pink or red flowers
attract bees when the flowers are single, but not the double forms. So
also do the flowers of several introduced species of Crataegus, mainly
from North America, which are sometimes grown in gardens or as street
trees.’

The hawthorn is sometimes known as the 11 o’clock tree in recognition of the time of day its nectar flow is estimated to be at its peak

hth

[french frank]

hth

It does! Sadly . Both my hawthorns are cultivars - or supposed to be. They were both supposed to be the well-known garden variety of Crimson Cloud, named after its red blossom. Which doesn't explain why one is white But neither is proving very attractive to young Basil. Maybe when (?) the hot weather comes, one of them will start producing some nectar. The white one hasn't produced very much in berries either in two years. the red one is in its first year chez moi.

[vinteuil]

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We know that spring has come when the masonry bees arrive to claim and re-work their holes in the poor cement-work in our neighbour's house - and today they are present in number. The wall they favour overlooks the glass roof of our kitchen, so we get little sprinkles of cement dust on the roof as they go about their business...

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[Serial_Apologist]

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We know that spring has come when the masonry bees arrive to claim and re-work their holes in the poor cement-work in our neighbour's house - and today they are present in number. The wall they favour overlooks the glass roof of our kitchen, so we get little sprinkles of cement dust on the roof as they go about their business...

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Oddly enough, bumble bees, of the large black variety with ginger tail, have been out and about right through the winter in these parts. I have yet to see a queen wasp, scoping the garden and building for an ideal nesting hole.

[oddoneout]

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We know that spring has come when the masonry bees arrive to claim and re-work their holes in the poor cement-work in our neighbour's house - and today they are present in number. The wall they favour overlooks the glass roof of our kitchen, so we get little sprinkles of cement dust on the roof as they go about their business...

.

In this part of the world a combination of soft bricks and lime mortar on many older buildings makes life easy for mason bees. The wall beside the front door of a previous Victorian terrace home became very popular and caused some consternation to visitors. More seriously a (single thickness)wall in one of the sections of my workplace became the focus of determined and multiple occupancy over a period of years to the point where it was possible to see through from outside to inside and the structural integrity of some sections became compromised. Organising repairs was lengthy and costly.