Now is the Month of Maying

It's May Day and my nose is starting to itch. There must be a great deal of pollen in the air! I suffer from hay fever, which in the past has lasted from June till beginning of July. Over the years this has changed. In the last few years my hay fever has started earlier in the season, and this year is the earliest yet. I think that whatever plants I am allergic to are flowering earlier. I have noticed as I get older my pollen allergy seems to get better. People have told me over the years that consuming local honey would cure hay fever. Well, we shall see.

Beekeeping  is making me take more notice of which plants are flowering. At the moment it is Holly, Hawthorne, Photinia (my neighbour's is covered in big clumps of blooms), and many more than I can name. I am counting all that lovely nectar my (long awaited) bees are not getting this year! As far as I know the nearest beekeeper is some two miles away so all the gardens up and down my neighbouring streets are well under used as far as honey making goes. 

I am told that that a young beekeeper, who has his bees further into the city, managed to get nearly 1000 lb of honey last year. A bit of an urban myth perhaps. But if it is true it may be due in a large part to a lack of competition for his bees. As awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping grows competition for nectar in the future (from more bee hives) will also increase. This can't be a bad thing.