Bees in Oregon in Winter

RE: Bees in Oregon in Winter

beacon_dave — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 13:28:28 GMT

[mention:dc11ece8204f479e8dce2a47a33b20d3:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] Any signs of bee activity over there yet this year ? Any signs of activity at the bee hotel ?

I spotted a few bumblebees active here in the front garden this week but I'm still a bit lacking in flowers at the moment, just a few Muscari and Crocus in flower. I think I need to get a few Helleborus to cater for the over Winter / early Spring diners as the seasons are starting to merge here. As it was a mild Winter, bees were still active in the garden here in December.

I think the 'buffet table' is fully set here for Summer/Autumn though. The majority of the Alliums planted last Autumn have appeared and are currently 'solar recharging'.

RE: Bees in Oregon in Winter

beacon_dave — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 17:52:53 GMT

Some Crocus have now joined the Snowdrops here over the weekend. The garden is waking up.

"Has flowers... needs bees..." [emoticon:c4563cd7d5574777a71c318021cbbcc8]

RE: Bees in Oregon in Winter

DAB — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 19:06:26 GMT

We have had a very cold start to winter followed by a very mild January and February, so it will be very interesting to see how well the local bee population emerges in the spring.

RE: Bees in Oregon in Winter

mp2100 — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 02:39:38 GMT

They do look like honey bees, but it’s hard to tell without a close-up. Probably an nearby apiary has some hives. The Portland winter is usually rather mild.

RE: Bees in Oregon in Winter

kmikemoo — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 19:28:08 GMT

Let's hope for no cold snaps that harm the bees that have mistakenly thought it was Spring. There's a lot of pollinating to do to help the forests recover.
Anyone else hear "The Circle of Life" playing in their heads?

RE: Bees in Oregon in Winter

beacon_dave — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:29:40 GMT

Looks like the bees are off to an early start in Oregon. I've not seen any around here as yet.

The decking looks very handy for clamping cameras and stuff onto. You could even have a trainset with onboard cameras... [emoticon:40407a03a85b435dbfb4df80de68cb45] I think your ML classifier needs tweaking a bit though... A beagle is not a bee... [emoticon:c4563cd7d5574777a71c318021cbbcc8]

A lot of ornamental flowering bulbs appear to be toxic so if any find their way to the surface it is probably a good idea to push them back under the soil. The snowdrops I have originate from a single bulb that appeared in my lawn one year. Presumably dropped by a bird or blown in in the wind at some point. I moved it to the side and its been multiplying around the edge of the lawn ever since. Low maintenance, hardy and good for shady spots under the hedge but relatively low output flower-wise and tends to be very leafy for most of the summer, so smothers the area around it.

Solar panels maxing out in February sounds promising. Had a bit of sun here yesterday and the 'solar done' LED finally lit up on one of my USB powerbanks,