Blackberries!!!!

[Brian D. Bray]

I'm right there with Jody, I couldn't imagine growing Blackberries on purpouse!!! 

I can, they're called thornless. much easier on the picker.  I'm eradicating the Hymalayans that were here (and everywhere) and growing thornless.  BTW, my wife gave me a big thank you (whink, whink) when I brought the thornless ones home.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have several native species of blackberries and a bunch that were imported and grow wild here and they're all a nuisance!  But because of the HUGE abundance of these terrible plants, it's our main nectar flow here.  Plus the berries are yummy.... so I guess they're not all that bad, as long as they're not invading my property. 

Give blackberry vine and inch and it takes over your whole yard.

As a matter of fact, I need to break out the DR Mower today and get the ones behind my Apiary.  Can barely stand behind my hives now without getting scratched.

Sean Kelly

Pruning shears and chipper works well.  Or I can lend you my goats.

[Bill W.]

The small little ones that grow on low, low vines out back.  I've never bothered to pick their fruit, but they have been flowering for a good couple of weeks.

Those are trailing blackberries and, IMO, they are the tastiest of all.  Like wild strawberries, they are smaller and softer, but also have a better flavor.  You just have to work a little harder for them.

We usually eat the trailing blackberries fresh and preserve or cook the himalayans and evergreens.

[Dane Bramage]

We've absolutely loads of blackberries around the wetlands here.  We gave up trying to harvest just one patch after around 4 or 5 (5-gal) buckets last year.

I went out and took some pics tonight after reading this thread.  They've started blooming just about a week ago now.   I'll try to get better pics that show the extent of the blackberries here...

For starters, they line the creek (birdsfoot trefoil also, the small yellow ones closer to the water):


All over the hill next to the terrace colonies:


Some closer shots.  This first one is so loaded up w/nectar she looks fat and translucent:








& off into the sunset...


:)

[poka-bee]

Beautiful pics Dane!  I see the hives on the terrace are getting taller w/each set of pics! :-D  Jody

[Dane Bramage]

Beautiful pics Dane!  I see the hives on the terrace are getting taller w/each set of pics! :-D  Jody

Thanks Jody!

It's probably true.. more supers, down on the deck also:


though I am pulling them off as soon as they're capped & ready (harvest and replace).   I like to do separate, seasonal harvests.  Also helps me get through with less supers... I can usually shuffle three/hive (3rd one is capped and ready by the time 2nd is 7/9 full).   I suspect our low humidity helps with the quick capping time.  I'll be adding these soon/as-necessary though ~>


Cheers,
Dane

[poka-bee]

OOhh MY, You have a yurt!!  Do you put anything in there other than the bee stuff??  Do you do the extracting in there too?  How big is it?  Doesn't Franz have one too? Inquiring mind wants to know! What breed is your little dog?  Sure is cute & such a beautiful color!   Nosy in Buckley  J

[Dane Bramage]

OOhh MY, You have a yurt!!  Do you put anything in there other than the bee stuff??  Do you do the extracting in there too?  How big is it?  Doesn't Franz have one too? Inquiring mind wants to know! What breed is your little dog?  Sure is cute & such a beautiful color!   Nosy in Buckley  J

Hahaha - Ok, one q at a time!

Yes indeed,  I do have a yurt.  It is the honey house.  It is mostly bee stuff for the moment (extractor, etc.,).  It's a 30' tall wall model.  Who is Franz?  My doggie is a pharaoh hound.  He's just over 4 years old now (he was a pup in my avatar pic) and weighs ~ 65lbs.

 :)

[Sean Kelly]

...Like wild strawberries, they are smaller and softer, but also have a better flavor...

Oh man, I forgot about wild strawberries!!!  I remember picking those when I was a little kid.  They were so hard to find and tiny!  I havent seen one of those in ages.  And those small trailing blackberries, my dad used to call them "mountain blackberries" and they also produced tiny berries that were awesome but few in numbers.

Dane, that last photo of the bee in the sunset comming off the blackberry flower is Amazing!  We still doing that wallpaper contest?  That should win 1st prize!!!  BEAUTIFUL!!!

Sean Kelly

[Cindi]

Dane, oh what beautiful pictures, holy smokin' smokers.  I love to see pictures that my forum friends take of their bees.  I will be going to my Daughter's new house for a few days, I have myriads of pictures that I want to get internet friendly.  I don't know if she will have her house router up and running so I may not be back on the forum until Wednesday morning of next week.  But when I am back, watch out!!!  I will have pictures coming out your ears for you all.

Dane, I remember speaking about your poooch and when I saw it in the picture it made my heart leap.  I tried to recall the breed name, and I thought it was an Egyptian something or other and then you responded to Jody and told her it was a Pharoah....  Cool, sometimes I can bring things back through those cobwebs of my mind.

I will go out and take some pictures of the flat rambling "trailing blackberries"/"mountain blackberries" that Sean and Bill W. name-defined.  I have never tried them, but I will take that time this year, the outback is covered in them, I noticed them a few days ago.  Blackberries, strawberries and an angel's kiss in spring.  Have that most beautiful and wonderfullest of days, Cindi

[Sean Kelly]

Dane, dude seriously, you need to send that sunset pic to Bee Culture Magazine!  That could totally go for a cover page!  Do you have a larger image of this I can use as my background from my computer?  Incredible!!!

Sean Kelly

[Brian D. Bray]

When I saw the Pharoah hound setting in the grass I first thought it was a Kangaroo.   
BTW, Kangaroo is Australian aborigine for I don't understand.  It seems an English explorer was trekking the outback, way back when Australia had 1st been discovered, when he saw what looked like a giant mouse hopping through the high grass.  He asked a nearby native (who didn't understand English) what the animal was.  The native replied, "Kanagroo." or more precisely, "I don't understand."

[Dane Bramage]

Dane, oh what beautiful pictures, holy smokin' smokers.  I love to see pictures that my forum friends take of their bees.  I will be going to my Daughter's new house for a few days, I have myriads of pictures that I want to get internet friendly.  I don't know if she will have her house router up and running so I may not be back on the forum until Wednesday morning of next week.  But when I am back, watch out!!!  I will have pictures coming out your ears for you all.

Thx Cindi!!  Looking forward to seeing your photos. :)

Dane, dude seriously, you need to send that sunset pic to Bee Culture Magazine!  That could totally go for a cover page!  Do you have a larger image of this I can use as my background from my computer?  Incredible!!!

Sean Kelly

Thanks Sean - I appreciate the kind words.  Unfortunately I did not take that one (nor any others last evening) with high-res.  You can see it a bit larger here ~> http://i31.tinypic.com/27x3wpt.jpg and I can also re-edit it from the original source to be a bit larger as well (I'll do it for ya if you want it as background and the other link is inadequate).  I've actually had some of my photography in print previously, covers in fact and from this same camera.  I have to capture at the absolute highest res it can produce and even then it is barely enough for print media (5.0MP & pixelation is the issue).   Anyways - glad ya like that one & thanks again!

When I saw the Pharoah hound setting in the grass I first thought it was a Kangaroo. 

Ha - he does look like a roo.  That's his nickname sometimes... that and 'maggot'.  ;)  You should see him hunt the tall grass - pretty amazing.  I sent him in there to chase away one of the neighborhood cats the other evening, or so I thought.  After a noisy tussle that I could hear but not really see (reminded me of this clip) he all a sudden came running out, foaming at the mouth... that is when the stench hit me...  :shock:  wow, I never had smelled a skunk "unload" before and was it ever over-powering... like burnt rubber and acrid milk, I could barely breathe and got the heck outta there!  My dog barely got hit - must have been saved from all that tall grass (no straight line of fire).  That was one stinky cat!  hahaha

[Bill W.]

Oh man, I forgot about wild strawberries!!!  I remember picking those when I was a little kid.  They were so hard to find and tiny!  I havent seen one of those in ages.

Here you go - today's pick:

[annette]

Those strawberries are yummy!!

Dane,

I also want that photo for my desktop. Can you send me the link also??

[Sean Kelly]

Wow, wild strawberries!!!  But I remember the ones here being smaller, like the size of a pea.  Maybe it was just my childhood imagination.  They look great though!  I went looking for some out here today but couldn't find any or even remember where they grew.

Sean Kelly

[poka-bee]

I used to have them in the pasture when I first moved in, Haley & the goats have eaten em all.  I do have some similar small plants, they are beach strawberries that I put as ground cover by the pond. Boy, do they grow but I've never gone out & seen if they have berries, seen flowers..that will be on my list of things to do today.  Mostly there for the birds & stuff +make a "green" barrier around the pond so dirty rainwater etc doesn't get in.  Jody

[Bill W.]

The trick to finding wild strawberries is to look very low in high grass.  High grass keeps the other critters from eating them and the strawberries are generally found lower than the leaves.  So, you find a patch of strawberry plants and then get down on your hands and knees and and sort through everything.  If you look down on the strawberry leaves while standing, you'll almost never see a berry.

[Dane Bramage]

bump!

So how did/is everyone's blackberry flow go/going?  It seems like it's going away too fast here... still a lot of flowers but I think it's well past peak.  I was expecting a lot more this year from the blackberries.

[Bill W.]

Still just getting started here.  We're right by the coast, so very mild temperatures and lots of water.  The blackberries should be flowering well into August.  We often are still picking the end of the blackberries in October.  The bees are very happy.

Although I like my feral bees for other reasons, it is amazing how fast the Italians produce honey during the flow.

[Kathyp]

the john deere and i go on blackberry kill missions every fall.  they come back bigger and better each year!  if i am to get any honey this year, it will be off those pesky blackberry bushes.