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 thinking linux beats Vista hands down already http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/ http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg246380.html -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---