Background (for those who don't know): this is my first season and my apiary is in Oregon adjacent wetlands.
The blackberries have 99% finished up and I was expecting a slow down so that I could harvest the unexpected surplus my bees have accumulated thus far.
Not gonna happen!! The flow is just accelerating and all the supers I harvested last week are again full and mostly capped. Here are some images as a sort of pictorial documentary on the Mid July "flow that I know" (& don't know, need some help identifying some please!).
First up is this huge tropical looking tree in my driveway:
I love the way these flowers look, the smell is just divine and my bees must concur as they are eating this one up (tried to catch a pic of one here, upper right). What
is this tree?
Next up is another unknown flowering tree in my yard. This one is mostly finished but the bees were all over it as well. Here is a close up of one flower:
We're getting closer to where the actual hives are situated now. This flowering
tree bush (hanging over the hives) smells just so pungent & sweet.
I have no idea what it is (lil help pls?) but the bees are all over this one as well!
Lastly, and this one I actually
do know is the purple loosestrife.
You could see this one in the background of the previous hives pic (w/flowering overhanging tree). The wetlands are loaded (but not at all over-run) with these and I'm fairly certain this is the main part of my current nectar flow.. though there are several I did not include.. even the dandelions are still going strong here.
I'm pulling ~ 1/2+lb of this pollen from one hive/trap per day.
It is
very sweet tasting and my local beek supply said it must be berry pollen. I have doubts on that (what berry is blooming now here & has dark pollen??). Anyone have pics of purple loosestrife pollen?
That's all the news to report now from my apiary. Hope you all enjoyed and anyone who has an ID on any of the flowering trees, please don't hesitate to reply.
Cheers,
Dane