On Sat, 2006-09-23 at 08:51 -0400, Robert Brenchley wrote:


> Not from ivy, except possibly in the far  South-West.

No, just about 4 weeks in Sept-Oct. They thrive on it and brood well -
producing the "winter bees". (BTW my take on "winter bees" is they are
the ones that have not yet fed their full complement of larvae so they
do not age in the same way. Until this happens the hypopharyngeal glands
are available to feed larvae and they stay as "house bees" until spring
replacements take over (laid through the winter actually) and they
become the main foraging bees. The others will fly the usual 500 miles
or so and die, mostly in the early to mid spring, though winter can see
a lot of flying.) We do have gorse which is in flower now and is likely
to keep going through the "winter".

james kilty http://www.honeymountain.co.uk
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