We’ve got bees feeding on grapes that we grow. Shortage of nectar availability?
(I would love to taste the honey of that!).
We’ve got bees feeding on grapes that we grow. Shortage of nectar availability?
(I would love to taste the honey of that!).
People are always telling me bees don’t work grapes. I have no experience with grapes, but in my experience bees seem to work most anything under certain circumstances, if it has a flower and makes pollen.
I think he means grapes not vine flowers.
I see bees on all sorts of fruit.
They do feed on fruit if there is a dearth and if something else pierces the skin for them, like yellow jackets or birds.
Yes, it is the grapes themselves they are feeding on. I didn’t know they did that. There are plenty of damaged grapes on the grounds, but I see them on those damaged, but still hanging on the vines as well.
The availability of flowers is clearly less than a couple of weeks ago, being in the middle of France and it almost being autumn.
I think I’m going to have to start feeding them (sugar bread).
My bees take the over-ripe grape juice as well: Bunch of winos!
Best kind of beings, in my humble opinion!!
Yes, mine feed on open grapes as well and blueberries if they have been pecked by birds.
Actually, mine seem to be feeding on (preciously) unopened grapes as well. I see bees on unopened grapes, there where they are attached to the grape vine. I can’t be sure that they are actually getting some juice out of there, but I have seen them do this various times.
Reminds me of something I saw, where the bees were feeding off the sap of a tree
With Eucalypts and some maples, I can believe that, but i have seen bees gathering propolis from pine trees which were weeping resin. They weren’t eating it, just pulling it off with their mandibles and flying away. Actually I saw quite a lot of bees doing that in the UK just last week on a warm day. That is where a lot of propolis comes from.
If yellow jackets are becoming a problem in your place, learning how to keep these aggressive insects at bay would be your top priority. One option you’ll find on the internet would be attracting a bird that can eat wasps.