BBKA Forum

The local 'Cherry Plum' tree came into flower last week which is about on time and always destroyed by rain every year. It is the first time I have seen Blackthorn come into flower before it in the 35 years I have lived here. Hazel and Alder all dying off now. Snowdrops will be gone next week. Crocus in full flower and the Crab Apple flowering which I think is about a month early. We did have 16c here today and it only rained for a couple of hours compared to all day like we have had for the last 4 months. I am 58 and I have never seen the land so soaked. Farms I have shot and fished at for decades are unrecognisable. Land washed out and gully's cut through fields by flood water. Fields not sown which should have been at the latest in October. 100's of acres of yellow fields. One farm has a 1000 acre of OSR which has just rotted in the ground and will be ploughed in if they can ever get the tractors on the fields which I can't even walk on at the moment. My dog keeps finding dead birds in the hedgerow which look like they have died of hypothermia being soaking wet for weeks on end. If we ever needed a warm dry spring this is the year.

Lots of white flowers from prunus (cherry plum) type trees in the hedgerows. Hazel is still around. There is some gorse flowering here and there too.
Although it will be a little colder in a few days' time, it does feel like Spring is arriving.

Willow now in full flower as well as crab apple and pear. At this rate the heather will be in flower about the end of April

Blackthorn and prunis strains are all either in full flower or turning brown, bees never got a sniff, its never stopped raining. Snowdrops and crocus well done. Some areas of dandelion starting and FFS the hawthorn is coming into bud everywhere. These warm winters have become a real problem. We have had one week of frost with 3 days of snow but almost consistent rain since October. Bees are blasting through fondant and pollen sub.

EAST WINDS OF DEATH STARTED A FEW DAYS AGO.

Blimey Mick, sound like you will be winter feeding by April..

I still am winter feeding, maybe I won't stop

Are you at Wynyard this weekend ? I might pop in and say hello.

Yes, will be at Wynyard on Sunday.

There's some OSR nearby - a few yellow flowers are just appearing. My guess is that it will be yielding fully towards the end of the month.

It was lovely here on Saturday and the bees were bringing home loads of pollen. Looked like Dandelion and probably Blackthorn as its later coming into flower at my out apiaries.

Horse Chestnut in full flower as well as Hawthorne. The Dandelions and false nettle is looking amazing all over the area, the best I have ever seen. The areas of OSR that have survived look fantastic but are all just on the boundary of my bees flying distance. The area I have bees has lost about 90% of the OSR due to 8 months of rain. I am praying for 2 weeks of nice weather as the Hawthorn should give a great crop with the amount of moisture in the ground. Its very noticeable that because the sheep have had to be spread so thin on the fields it has allowed the Dandelions to flower very well as the sheep would normally graze the fields bare. Just need some warmth, no winds or rain.