- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The honey bees are hungry.
Those venturing out from their colonies as the temperatures edge toward 55 degrees or more aren't finding much. It's the dead of winter. Spring seems so distant.
But wait, the flowering quince is blooming.
The flowering quince (genus Chaenomeles) from the rose family (Rosaceae) is among the first flowers of the new year to bloom. The soft pinks loaded with gold--yellow pollen--are the best!
There's no argument from the honey bees.
Somehow or another, spring doesn't seem so distant.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You can quench your thirst.
And then you can "quince" your thirst.
That would be a honey bee on a flowering quince.
Yes, the flowering quince are flowering. And none too soon in our drab landscape, nearly devoid of color.
Today the honey bees seems to be in a feeding frenzy. They emerged from their hives and went looking for food for their colonies. They found it in the flowering quince, amid the contrasting deep pink and soft pink blossoms.
The spiny shrub, in the rose family (Rosaceae) and genus Chaenomeles, is a native of eastern Asia, originating in Japan, China and Korea.
When the flowering quince flowers, that's a sure sign that spring is peeking around winter's corner.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A sure sign that winter is nearly over: when the flowering quince bursts into bloom, attracting a flotilla of foraging honey bees.
Actually, the bees began "inspecting" the flowering quince in the bud stage. "Hurry, open up!" the bees seemed to urge. "We have to start feeding our colonies."
Flowering quince (genus Chaenomeles, family Rosaceae) is an ornamental plant that's delightful to see. Who doesn't admire the soft pink blossoms and the comforting hum of bees buzzing around with heavy loads of yellow pollen?
The nation's bees, though, are still in trouble. Overwintering losses are still around 30 percent as in the years past, honey bee experts say. Bees are still suffering from colony collapse disorder (CCD), a mysterious malady characterized by adults bees abandoning the hive. CCD is thought to be the result of multiple factors, including pesticides,pests, diseases, malnutrition and stress.
As Christi Heintz, executive director of Project Apis m. (as in Apis mellifera), told the Almond Board of California at its meeting in December: “Colony losses are not quite as acute as in previous years, mainly as a result of improved management, but overwintering losses still hover around 30 percent, an unsustainable rate of loss.”
Heintz, who is the Almond Board Bee Task Force liaison, listed seven areas for best management practice (BMP) development: bee nutrition, pest control/varroa, disease control/nosema, hive mangement/equipment, colony management, business management, and BMPs for almond growers/bee rentals.
You can read the entire BMP article in Bee Culture.
Project Apis m. or PAm, serves an important role. Beekeepers and orchardists established PAm in December 2006, as a "New Vision" to fund honey bee research on managed colonies, according to its website. The organization's goal: "to fund and direct research to improve the health and vitality of honey bee colonies while improving crop production. Emphasis is placed on research studies that have realistic and practical usefulness for beekeeping businesses."
"PAm brings together representatives of the American Honey Producers Association (APHA), the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF), the National Honey Board (NHB), California State Beekeepers Association (CSBA), and California almond farmers. PAm includes representatives from both the pollination and crop production enterprises."
Together we can all do our part to help save the bees. The first step: awareness.