More beans than pollinators?

[farmerm]

Something just crossed my mind... there are rather a lot of Spring Beans around us this year than might be ideal.. with ours and our neighbours there is a nearly continuous block approaching 500 acres. I’m suddenly concerned this might just be more beans than local pollinators can service? At least ours are the closest to the local beehives..

 

[GeorgeK]

There are also moths, butterflies, hover flies and many other insects that will be busy pollinating. It's surprising sometimes, you'd think big blocks might just get the edges done and miss the middle but they always seem to get the whole lot, I often wonder how they manage to work it out and not miss a single flower

 

[yellowbelly]

Something just crossed my mind... there are rather a lot of Spring Beans around us this year than might be ideal.. with ours and our neighbours there is a nearly continuous block approaching 500 acres. I’m suddenly concerned this might just be more beans than local pollinators can service? At least ours are the closest to the local beehives..

I think it would be a bigger worry if you hadn't got anything drilled.

Nature is a wonderful thing.

 

[Hindsight]

Something just crossed my mind... there are rather a lot of Spring Beans around us this year than might be ideal.. with ours and our neighbours there is a nearly continuous block approaching 500 acres. I’m suddenly concerned this might just be more beans than local pollinators can service? At least ours are the closest to the local beehives..

Page 35 Pollinators. The crop self pollinates but bees do help.

 

[farmerfred86]

The wind will pollinate a lot. You can see pollen blowing from an OSR crop across roads etc

 

[MrNoo]

The wind will pollinate a lot. You can see pollen blowing from an OSR crop across roads etc

Yes, love it, we have a farm track that goes right through the middle of one of the fields, I often walk this, when we used to grow OSR it was amazing, a yellow haze in the air, sweet sickly smell. Gone down the bean route this year too so will see how they go, At least the frosts and recent snow has slowed up the Bean Weevils!!

 

[Wombat]

I’d be more concerned about how good the heater is in the combine if it stays cold for spring beans

 

[yellow belly]

Round here the bumble bees are a bit lost as very little rape

the bee farmer here has had to move bees to rape
first time he has ever had to find rape

plenty of beans round here although I have none here this year

 

[MrNoo]

The Hawthorn hedges in flower are certainly very very busy with bees.

 

[czechmate]

The Hawthorn hedges in flower are certainly very very busy with bees.

Do you mean Hawthorn? Or blackthorn?

 

[MrNoo]

Do you mean Hawthorn? Or blackthorn?

Yes sorry blackthorn