Returning from emptying the ash pan from our fireplace into the compost bin, I heard this almond tree buzzing energetically. It is a hotspot for foragers today. Mostly honey bees, but a queen bumblebee was on the scene too.
I planted this tree when we moved here so it must be about six years old now. It grows almonds, but I grow it for the blossom rather than the nuts. I planted an almond tree at our previous apiary too, which was also welcomed by the bees in early spring.
P.s. The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society is a great book by Chris Stewart. I hope he doesn’t mind my borrowing his title.
It’s been beekeeping weather in February. When it’s warm enough to be outside in a T-shirt, it’s warm enough to open a hive. But I haven’t.
Almond blossom
Flowers are welcoming the bees, and vice versa. Snowdrop, crocus and winter aconite are finishing now, but we have blackthorn, hellebore, grape hyacinth and - just opening - almond.
The bees have also been foraging for water from a pebble tray that I was temporarily using to water plants outside. It has become so popular with the bees over the past couple of weeks that I think I will have to leave it there. The pebble tray is particularly good as a water source because it warms up quickly in the sun so that the drinking bees don’t get chilled, and they can settle on the stones without risk of drowning. I will build a similar feature into the new apiary pond.
They started flowering in the garden this month. So did the Jerusalem artichokes that I planted, which look and smell similar, but are very much taller, towering over the hedge and reaching for the roof of the house.
The flowers in the garden border are just the right height for watching the bees coming and going between them. Could they be dwarf Jerusalem artichokes, if there is such a thing?
