When the dandelions bloom, beekeepers breathe a little easier. There are usually lots of them, and when they bloom around mid-May, the weather is usually improving and the bees can make good use of them for pollen and nectar. For me, dandelions are a sign that my feeding interventions are no longer necessary …the bees can look after themselves. So when the dandelions bloom I remove division board feeders from the hives and insert some new foundation in their place. By this time in May there are lots of young bees capable of making wax and the dandelion nectar and pollen gives them the ingredients to make the wax. It’s full speed ahead when the dandelions bloom. “What can I do to help the bees?” “They are in trouble aren’t they?” people ask. Simple answer: steal all the spark plugs from your neighbours’ lawn mowers and don’t give them back until the windipuffs appear …that will help all bees, both wild and kept. It ain’t going to happen though, too many lawn obsessives out there, but not down our road where lawns won’t get moved until June. (In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a bee obsessive). Unconfirmed personal factoid: an interesting thing I’ve noted is that dandelion flowers close up when the temperature drops, and they open again when warmed by the sun or the warmth of the day. You’re supposed to be able to tell the temperature by how many cricket chirps per minute in the summer; in a similar way I think dandelions tell us the temperature. I think they re-open at about 10 -12 degrees C, which is just about the temperature that honeybees need to actively forage … maybe there’s a symbiosis there …after all, both our honeybees and dandelions are introduced species from Europe. So many good things could be said about dandelions: gorgeous in a sunny field, totally edible both above and below ground, (I once made coffee from dandelion root when on a survival course) and now a source of latex for tires …what’s not to love about dandelions?
