Hello Margaret et al. I was happy to see the thread light up because my interest is in just reading your insights and following the process. I do not do anything related to bee keeping. I like the learning about part and have often run off to research different things inspired by what I read here. i do like to know of plants that they are attracted to because I 'cottage' garden lots and of course we and bees offer each other benefits in that regard. i just enjoy that you share what you do.

Welcome David I'm glad to have you join us. Would you care to share your experiences during your first year with us? We have some readers who are thinking of getting hives and they would be most interested in reading about that. You are welcome to make a new thread on your experiences to make it easier for you and everyone to keep up with what you post.

What led you to become a beekeeper? What did you learn from the bees? What was the most unexpected about beekeeping for you? What breed of bees do you have?

Hi Jamie I'm glad you are enjoying the beekeeping forum. Articles will start appearing again on the subject January 6th so stay tuned.

I've found that beekeeping is like eating potato chips; you just can't stop at one or two once you find out how much fun and easy it is to keep bees.

And you know, I'm here. Just to see what you got going on...

HI Charleen. You planting anything for the bees this year?

I know I'm going to have some zinnias out there, I saw bees and butterflies on them last year. did I tell you I even had a bees buzzing around the angel Trumpets?? i got to go look at my pictures, I think I remember taking a picture. I'm leavimf my waterdish out for them too...

Zinnias provide pollen so that's good I hope mine come up this year for some reason I had a hard time growing stuff last year. Crazy weather I guess they didn't know if it was time to grow or not.
Would love to see your pictures even without bees they are beautiful.

I got lots of pictures. I sure don't want to wear you out .

Beautiful Charleen.

There is no such thing as wearing a gardener out with pictures of pretty blooms. So you just keep sharing them, you hear?

Thank you dear. I love to take pictures of my plants...

Look at that Inky buzzzzzzzzzin like a beeeeeeee!!!!

What a lovely surprise to see you Inky. Hope you didn't tire yourself out trying to buzz around like a bee.

(Nadine) Hi, Everyone. I was wondering if anyone here knows the real story on Gelsemium sempervirnes (Carolina Jessamine, wild yellow jasmine) and honeybees? It is on some list as a good early forage plant while others claim it poisons the honey. I have seen bees working the Jessamine, but I’ve heard enough scary stories about oleander honey to be cautious. The fact that bees work a bloom doesn’t mean the honey produced is safe for people to consume.
I’ve already convinced the other gardeners at Amargia to eliminate traditional plants like azaleas and oleander from our landscape for the sake of the bees. But, Jessamine is a big favorite in the Fragrance Garden and a wild version grows in the nearby woodland. It will be harder to get rid of. Before I start, I want to be sure it is necessary for good honey. The beekeeper I apprentice under doesn’t have Jessamine growing within forage range of his hives. He wasn’t sure. Does anyone here have the low-down on Jessamine? ~N~

Welcome to the beekeeping forum Nadine.

My research shows that Gelsemium sempervirnes nectar is toxic to young bees and larvae but not adult bees. It is also said to be toxic to humans. That said, most sources say it has to be the main nectar source for it to be toxic to humans. If it is mixed with other sources of nectar it's effects may not be a worry.

One source says the effect on bees is the same as alcohol on humans and honey bees have been used as models to learn more about the effects of alcohol on humans and for testing treatments on humans.

Unless the jasmine is the only thing blooming in the area honey bees will normally avoid anything that will harm the colony.

We don't have any jasmine growing here so I can't speak from experience. Hopefully, someone will come along who does know more.

(Nadine) I think I will err on the side of caution and remove the Jessamine. I bet the fragrance gardeners can be bribed to give up their ‘Pride of Augusta’ Jessamine with a new scented camellia. ;-) I suppose I need to plant more things with early season, bee-friendly blooms. Red clover, maybe. ~N~

I'd sure be willing to trade to a camellia..

Late winter and early spring blooms are the most important during the early part of the year,. Late summer and autumn blooms are just as important for storing food for the winter.

Also anything that blooms during a drought period in your area is also important because they will be more bees gathering water to cool the hive than there are gathering food.

If you are interested I have a database of plants for honey bees started on ATP's sister site Cubits. The link is below this post. You can search by common name, Latin name, type of plant, hardiness zone, and time of bloom. I also have articles on ATP written last year for the months of January through September that list plants that begin to bloom during those months. Just click on my user name to go to my profile pate and scroll down to find the list of articles.

The database is a work in progress and by no means complete yet.

(Nadine) Thanks. Now I know that the girls working the tea olives is fine.

You are welcome and what a lovely picture you have shared with us.

Dear all, some pictures from the Hampton Court Palace flower show. I did beekeeping whilst at college, but bees are getting rare now due to foreign imports of Honey which has sugar in it and is not pure Honey. The public buy the cheapest not the best! It is illegal to sell British Honey that is not 100% Honey, but if you put on the label "of more than one country of origin" it is legal to put sugar in it.
This was a tent set up to explain that to the public, and to let people make their own beeswax candles free of charge. Beeswax candles do not smoke like normal candles so are much better!
Regards from England.
Neil.