Beehive under shed

13 years ago

I have recently discovered a honey beehive beneath an opening in one of the slats of my shed. It's no wonder I have something of a problem with over-pollination.

Two plants in particular do not have enough energy to support all the peppers earnestly. I suspect the fledgling pods will tend to be undersized and stunt the ones further matured. The plants have almost abandoned further leaf production in order to put more energy into the pods it seems.

These particular pots were particularly affected by a day of heavy rainfall and I was forced to bring these ones into the conservatory to dry out in case there was more rain. The good thing is that the bees can no longer pollinate in force.

However, I have to still watch the flowering because as you know sometimes you just have to look at a flower for it to pollinate.

What you see here is just one section:

This post was edited by SgtPepper on Sat, Jul 27, 13 at 13:45

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Comments (6)

seysonn
13 years ago
I wouldn't worry. Plant will figure it out how many it can support

So you have an army of pollinators right in your property !
Today, I saw couple of bees around my whole garden area. I used to get a lot more when the sage was in bloom.
judo_and_peppers
13 years ago
a few days ago I was in my garden drinking my morning coffee, and watched a bee fly around my previously under-producing habanero. I watched him visit every single open flower before moving on to my thai peppers. I was so thrilled to see it. when I was counting today it looks like at least 15 pods set.

lucky you. I'd love to see something like that. minus the risk of getting stung, of course.
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SgtPepper
Original Author
13 years ago
It is possible I could take a picture through the gap they are going through, but I am a little nervous to do it without a bee suit. If they think I was attacking the hive they might want to sting me. I am interested in how much honey they've got.

But yeah, they go over and over the same flowers every day. I watch them go to extreme effort to get at difficult flowers, i.e. those face down on a leaf, etc.

I noticed the bees have kind of like an aerial road system when I was sunning myself watching them. The plants themselves are not far from the shed. I was taken aback when I saw where they were coming and going from. They seem very orderly about it all.
judo_and_peppers
13 years ago
well, looks like you're gonna get a great harvest. maybe think about adding a bit more fertilizer to supplement what the plant is capable of doing on its own?

this is of course my first time grower opinion, so it might be worth waiting on that advice, in case I accidentally led you astray.
margowicz
13 years ago
If your plant would not be able to support them it would do two things.

1 - stop producing flowers if it cannot support what it has then it would not want more

2 - drop off the pods it has got.

as long as it producing flowers I wouldn't worry just give it plenty of water get a bee suit and you got free honey either that or buy a hive and let the bees be in there that way you can move it if you have a garden party etc
SgtPepper
Original Author
13 years ago
After examining the bees more closely of the ones entering the shed, it turns out these ones are called 'common carder bees'. Nevertheless they are a heavy pollinating insect and fortunately mild-tempered. The nests are usually only 200-300 bees. So, although there are honey bees about too, the particular bees going in the shed are these small bumblebees slightly larger than a true honey bee.

This post was edited by SgtPepper on Sun, Jul 28, 13 at 17:35