Nature has provided the honeybees with all the bounty she can for this year. The flowering period for most plants has come to an end.

The shortening days, reduced sunshine and cooler temperatures are the limiting factors. Bees and flowering plants are very much in tune, since both rely on each other for survival.

The last throw of the dice has been the ivy blooms. It flowered during an unusual period of warm weather, making it possible for honeybees to capitalise on its nectar and pollen supply.

Beekeepers are very tuned in to watching for pollen being brought into the hives, since it signifies that the queen is present and brood is being reared

Day after day, bees lost no time in collecting the strong smelling nectar and the yellow coloured pollen, making it four in a row for honeybees this year (clover, blackberry, ling heather and ivy).

The nectar collected will be turned into honey and stored as part of their winter reserves. Beekeepers are very tuned in to watching for pollen being brought into the hives, since it signifies that the queen is present and brood is being reared.

Surviving winter

Bees, produced at this time of the year, are the cornerstone of next year’s colony. Since, the worker bees’ life is short, living only six weeks in the summer, some mechanism for surviving the winter months has to exist. To this end, nature has provided the bee with a mechanism for surviving the six months she must live, so that the colony is taken through the winter and early spring, when, new young bees become plentiful and carry the colony forward.

Some beekeepers try to get a crop of ivy honey

To this end, the winter bee, living for about six months, will have fat bodies, which store carbohydrates and nutrients. She is then able to call on these reserves to help her through the winter period.

Some beekeepers try to get a crop of ivy honey. It can be very hit and miss, depending on temperatures. Only strong colonies will bring in a surplus which can be sold. The honey goes solid in the blink of an eye due to its high glucose content. Unfortunately, heat must be used if the honey has to be liquefied for bottling. The flavour is strong, especially when the honey is fresh. Some may find it is not to their liking, but those who acquire a palate for it want more and more of it.

Mind the wasps too

Wasps, during the first few days of the ivy flowers opening, were more plentiful on the blooms than honeybees. It struck me, that they were expending their energy for no gain, since their life is soon coming to an end. Only queen wasps will pass the winter and start a new nest next year.

Keep an eye on the curtain folds for hibernating wasps and leave them have their sleep

Perhaps, they were ensuring their newly reared queens were well fed and ready for their winter slumber, which lies ahead of them, before they themselves succumb to the fate which awaits them. Keep an eye on the curtain folds for hibernating wasps and leave them have their sleep. We need them as much as the bees.

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