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Date: | Sat, 11 Jun 2022 17:05:37 +0100 |
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>2. What are the environmental conditions that predispose Tilia to produce
copious volumes of nectar?
We know it as lime here in the UK where it is grown extensively in some towns and cities and is/was popular to create impressive avenues alongside the main drive to stately homes. The trees are not as popular now that we have so many cars as nectar dripping from them can be a considerable nuisance. We have quite a lot in and around Stratford-upon-Avon but I have only once had what I would consider a 'pure' sample (that happened when I took over the management of a hive that had been left without supers (and amazingly had not swarmed by mid-June); it quickly filled two supers from the adjacent avenue of probably around forty lime trees.
The honey is a pale greenish colour and has a mint flavour. It was always said the you could never win prizes at honey shows with it as the viscosity tends to be low even when the water content is good.
The flowers are like little bells so nectar does not get washed out when it rains, but a hot dry wind will dry the nectar out and bees that start working it early may get a bit tetchy by 10am on a hot, dry windy day. Warm, still, humid conditions are perfect - as they are with so many flowers.
Bees do well on lime: I once knew a son and father who were both beekeepers, one living in rural Wales and one in Birmingham, They regularly moved hives to Birmingham from Wales to give them a boost.
Best wishes
Peter
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W
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