Author Topic: What's flowering: Queensland (Read 203479 times)

max2 · « **Reply #700 on:** September 24, 2022, 07:11:12 pm »

TheHoneyPump in another part of this website wrote:
If that white clover is anything like what we have around here, it yields huge amounts. However the conditions needed are: cool nights with some dew and warm (but not hot) afternoons of 22 C - 28 C. It shuts down when temperature gets high. Also does not yield much until the afternoon and keeps flowing into the evening. The bees are into the ditches and shrubs in the mornings but the afternoons are just a frenzy in the clover fields.

I think the HP is onto something.
We are having these conditions here right now and it looks like the bees are starting to work the Clover.

max2 · « **Reply #701 on:** September 28, 2022, 04:48:27 am »

Clover is still disappointing - large areas of Clover but not a lot of bees.
Iron bark is flowering...and Blur Gum, Tallowwwood

max2 · « **Reply #702 on:** October 01, 2022, 10:05:03 pm »

This is a Spring like no other is can remember.
I have a mature Jaboticaba next to the gate to the garden.
I flowered about a month ago, had few bees and set very few fruit.
It flowered about 10 days ago - loads of flower - amazing. Quite a few fruit have set.
Now it is budding again...
What is going on?

We had a mild Late winter and early Spring with regular modest rain ( more last night - just 14mm) - perfect growing conditions but little honey

max2 · « **Reply #703 on:** October 07, 2022, 04:26:20 am »

My bees have access to a very large area with a LOT of White Clover and yet they don't seem to work it much.
We took some honey off this week.

usually, our fist harvest is very light, typically Clover, honey.

Not this time - the honey is quite dark and we all wonder what is going on.

Also, the SHB have gone crazy and I have lost 3 hives in the last month.

max2 · « **Reply #704 on:** October 10, 2022, 09:33:15 pm »

Just back from one of my yards - making best use of a fairly sunny day.

The Blackberries are flowering. Also the Red Bottlebrush, Grevilleas, Lotus bainsii ( spp?) and of course the Clover.

A few bees at 10AM on the Clover but lots of activity on the BlackBerries.

Blackberries would be seen as a roadside weed here but nobody bothers as they don't seem to spread like they do in cold climates.

max2 · « **Reply #705 on:** October 18, 2022, 06:25:43 pm »

Rain and more rain predicted here.

White Cedar is flowering and along the coastal areas the Silky Oak is flowering. Here, they are still maybe a week off.
I hope we get some sunshine by then.

max2 · « **Reply #706 on:** October 26, 2022, 04:55:26 am »

We had nearly a week of heavy rain - floods in many parts.
We are lucky here - about 120mm. The garden did not like it much and a two of my yards are on the wet side.
The rain was followed by a couple of days with temps around 32C - more on the way.
It was hot working bees and more to go.

The Clover did not like the heat at all but the Pecan Nuts are close to flowering. It will give us a nice boost of pollen - always does.

There is a good honey flow on and I'm taking off some 1/2 frames with no wires and I will try my hand at cutting some Comb Honey - see my question elsewhere.

max2 · « **Reply #707 on:** October 30, 2022, 05:44:17 pm »

We are having a lovely flow on - nobody is quite sure what is flowering.
Jacarandas are out in full glory.

Waterhousia floribunda is budding - always a reliable contibutor.

max2 · « **Reply #708 on:** October 30, 2022, 05:46:07 pm »

Waterhousea floribunda
http://www.brisrain.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=231

max2 · « **Reply #709 on:** November 04, 2022, 03:50:10 am »

Every year around this time the Pecan's are flowering and the bees are going like crazy to collect pollen.

This year - lots of flowers but not a bee?

Is there something" better" around for pollen?

max2 · « **Reply #710 on:** November 11, 2022, 03:07:39 am »

There is a nice flow on. We have been waiting for a long time for this.

The Waterhousia and other Lilly Pillies are in full bloom at one of my sites and I'm sure they will flower here soon too.

The native Frangipani is out and a Leptospernum - I have to check which one it is.

Also the grounf flora is doing their bit.

It is also worth mentioning that the Pecan's had a fail year - very few nuts have set.

Also, E torreliana , usually a reliable performer, did not flower here this year.

The water Snow flakes are also not performing ...so far.

max2 · « **Reply #711 on:** November 17, 2022, 07:12:45 pm »

The Lilly Pilliy's are being worked by bees this morning.
Also the Tipuana Tipu ( the pride of Bolivia) is out.

I just checkd on some hives I'm using to produce Comb Honey and the frames are filling up realy well.

The15thMember · « **Reply #712 on:** November 17, 2022, 08:23:45 pm »

Quote from: max2 on November 17, 2022, 07:12:45 pm

The Lilly Pilliy's are being worked by bees this morning.
Also the Tipuana Tipu ( the pride of Bolivia) is out.

I just checkd on some hives I'm using to produce Comb Honey and the frames are filling up realy well.

I can't get over how fun the names of plants in your country are to say. We clearly missed many opportunities to have fun when we gave our plants common names in America.

max2 · « **Reply #713 on:** November 17, 2022, 10:23:26 pm »

We do even better with place names:

https://www.escape.com.au/destinations/australia/foul-bay-banana-nowhere-else-and-other-australian-places-with-weird-names/news-story/d045e64f89c8fde5648e4cdac886829f

max2 · « **Reply #714 on:** November 24, 2022, 11:07:35 pm »

A hot day today...

We took some more honey off. The extractor has been playing up. Something with the speedcontrol and i have to find somebody who knows how to fix this - soon.

I plan to visit a large beekeeper next weekn and he may know what is flowering.

We should not forget the weeds along our country roads - Flatweed, Thistles - are in full bloom and the bees would get some pollen of these. On the way to one of my yards a farmers seems to cultivate a Thistle hedge. I don't mind

max2 · « **Reply #715 on:** November 26, 2022, 04:28:45 pm »

Message from a near Gympie:
" we got the same grey ironbark and brush box it is a funny season bees are filling nice and swarming everywhere hopefully weather keeps fine for a bit"

max2 · « **Reply #716 on:** December 05, 2022, 02:30:59 am »

Waterhousia floribunda is out. http://www.brisrain.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=231

A good honey plant and very reliable.

We have some very hot days ahead but the waterhousia won't mind.

The bees have been very busy here but I will limit any beework to the early mornings

max2 · « **Reply #717 on:** December 15, 2022, 07:42:16 pm »

Lemon Myrtle is just starting to flower. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGiZZdoIrl0
This is an interesting plant. bees love it.
I don't think that this is a very common tree in the flight range of my bees but everytime it flowers well people tell me that they get a hint of lemon/tang taste in the honey - realy lovely.
The Bottle Brush are also flowering and the bees seem to work them all day.

max2 · « **Reply #718 on:** December 21, 2022, 11:49:21 pm »

I visited a felow beekeeper near Maryborough ( a couple of hundred km's North of us) yesterday and he told me that he started taking honey off in July ( Mac Nuts) and has not stopped.

I visited another beekeeping friend about 50 km South of us and he had a very poor season.

Another friend - just 10 km inland tells me that she is taking Blackbutt honey off

It just shows - beekeeping is very local.

max2 · « **Reply #719 on:** December 23, 2022, 12:11:51 am »

Euc pilularis is getting a 4 star rating for honey and is also an excellent pollen producer. The literature saus " 27 kg of honey per hive".

Flowering in December seems to be rather early here. It may flower well into late Summer.

https://www.picturethisai.com/wiki/Eucalyptus_pilularis.html