Oh beehive!

The hives are out in the forest. I reckon it could be a good year for the bees and therefore for honey; it's been a bumper year for heather and ling.

bee

It's been nice seeing the bees and ting enjoying our garden after what has so far been a rather insect free summer, year in fact. In particular our Lavender (Lavandula) are buzzing with activity, as dozens of frantically probing Bumble Bees (and other bees) winkle out flowery goodness; in the garden in general there's been a noticeable upturn in airborne activity, all sorts. As yet not to the levels one would expect normally though. Still cool.

Hives of activity

Signs warn 'Caution Bees at work'. It's that time of year in the forest when the bees do their thing. The heathland is radiant, her purple cloak in full bloom, flowers all brimming with nectar, and clusters of hives now hide amongst the scattered clumps of gorse set to exploit natures bounty in the pursuit of glorious bee gold.

Buff Tailed Bumblebee

We saw a few pairs of shagging Buff Tailed Bumblebees (Bombus terristris) on this morning's walk, it must be that time of the year. A couple of observations: the queen is a fair size bigger than the male/worker; they were exposed and vulnerable to predators, of which they have many, though so consumed in the moment they appeared to care not; and finally they were not at all phased by a giant voyeuristic ape and fascinated canine gawping at them. Credit to them, I'm sure I'd have been put off in their position.

Bathed in pollen

Thousands of small sun like Dandelions (Taraxacum) bloom in the grassy fringes of field and woodland, and in them hundreds of deftly moving bees stop to bathe in copious pollen.

Oh Beehive

Two faces of bees in the forest, professional bee keeping hives placed out to exploit the forests heathery bee gardens, and a wild colony hidden in one of Red Rise's oaks. You see the professional hives out every year (soften a dozen or so grouped together), the forest has one of the largest beekeeping associations in the country, and produces some fine honey. The wild colony I first spotted one spring some years back, each year I've checked on the colony, and they appear to be doing okay. I don't know how long it'll endure though, a queen only has a 3 to 4 year lifespan. I don't know if the colony then disbands or another queen steps up and the colony continues on.  Thinking about it, I'm sure it was longer than 4 years ago I first came this tree.

Meadow

The front lawn has never been up to much, I think it's been neglected for years, and since we've lived here all I've done is keep it tidy so not to annoy the neighbours. Lawn has always appeared a bit of a waste to me, the sterility of  it is not for me. I'm usually quite lax with mowing anyway, but this year I decided to expand on that, and I haven't bothered cutting the lawn yet this year, and it turns out it wasn't really a lawn after all, it's a meadow of flowers with only occasional intermittent grasses.  I don't know what the neighbours think, but the insects appear to love it...which is nice to see.

Tell 'em about the honey, mummy

It's that time of the year when you might spot clusters of boxes dotted on the distant open heathland slopes, these will be Bee Hives.  The hives are brought out into forest by bee keepers during the late summer to take advantage of the abundance of heather, said to be the finest of honey.  They'll be gone soon as the heather has all but gone over. When you hear 'forest' you think trees, don't you, and there are plenty of trees around here, for sure, although the majority of the New Forest is actually open heathland, with elements of wet heath. Here Heather and Ling are king, being by far the dominant ground flora, so there's a lot of pollen to be gathered.

Hive of activity

The hives are about in the forest, with the bees making the most of the heather, which just keep on flowering. Up here on Hampton Ridge the hives are surrounded by several square miles of open heather carpeted heath for the bees to feast on. Placing hives out in the forest is a tradition which goes back hundreds of years at least, and is testified to by a place name containing 'Bee Garden' or just 'Garden'. In times past Bee Gardens would have been banked enclosures topped with fencing or hedge to protect the hives, now though the hives are left scattered amongst the dense gorse as protection.  I saw 5 or 6 hives, all buzzing with activity. I wonder how much honey you get from each hive?

Bee-have

A colony of bees gather on the tree around the entrance of their nest to take in the early morning sun. I don't know how long a nest remains active, though this colony of bees have been living in this old oak for years now. Nice to see.