Wow, and initial reports suspected radiation from burgeoning cell phone use (among other culprits).

We had very little bee activity this year, no frogs either!

Each year at first frost I harvest seeds from Hyacinth Bean to keep over until next spring, have done it for 6 or so years.
They're a beautiful annual climber here.

But something's wrong.
None of the beans have ripened, they're still green inside the pods and the vines have been hit by frost so they're finished.
Many blossoms are unpollinated and didn't become pods.

The first pic shows a few black seeds. That's how they SHOULD LOOK.
Yet most are soft and green, and immature.
The ones that are changing colour are still very soft, and won't make it, I suspect.
Barb

That sucks. I noticed a slight reduction in wasp activity this year and did not have a wasp nest in the yard.

I had no pollination problems of note so far. I didn't check the few sunflowers that I had for fertile seed, they looked ok from a distance. So far the Malva zebrina is still green and in bloom with little seed being set. It is almost 5 feet tall compared with normal height of about 3 feet. I haven't watered it, hoping to force the roots deeper. It is a Z 5 perennial but hasn't overwintered yet unlike most of the Z 5 perennials that I have grown.

I did notice an absence of Cabbage moths. They appear to have been replaced with a 'butterfly winged' flying grasshopper. I like the color of the wings and Bob, the cat, likes the insect's taste.

This was the hotest summer on record with close to record temperatures almost every day in June and July. There has been little moisture since the first of September. This could also have affected the insects.

Allen

Allen, I think it's a good idea to withhold water.
When I saw the Hyacinth Bean pods developing ever so slowly, and only a month before I wanted to harvest seeds,
I also turned off the water, hoping to force them into seed production. Still not early enough though. Darn.

We learned years ago with apple trees that you can increase a young tree's production (versus green growth) by
stressing the tree. If it thinks it's going to die, it'll put out seeds big time!

Interesting that you've had a hot summer.
Okanagan's always hot, yet this year we've had more rain in spring and fall that we've had in 30 years, so I wonder if that's made "seed setting" late.

We did have wasps around in August and September...especially when you put a beer on the patio table 😉 but I doubt they pollinate our desired plants. The bees that I did see seemed sluggish and spent as much time sitting on chairs (versus flying and pollinating) as in the air.

My G. Shepherd has the same taste as Bob the Cat...those grasshoppers are playthings, they were everywhere for a couple of weeks until starlings decimated 'em.

Barb

Now for the big question.

When the bees were sitting in your chairs were they also drinking beer? That's probably why they were sluggish. 😆

Allen

Nope, Allen, not enough left for 'em 😉
Cheers.
Barb

One thing that has not been noted, is the increase native bee populations. Sence the European honey-bee has been on the decline native bees have been doing better.
Also they have forgot to mention some of the controll methods that are useed for killing the African honey-bee could be why the European honey-bee populations are down.
Just a couple of things to think about. 😕

You make very good points, DesertZone.
Barb

Nobody knows what damages the bees immune systems. Radio waves, microwaves, chemicals, stress and many other causes all play a part.

I am glad that the native bee is recovering in the states. We don't have much of a native bee population here; just wasps and hornets. Until this year they were doing just fine.

Allen

Sorry to hear about the bees in your area I hope they start doing better. 🙁

I am just finishing collecting seed from the Godetia. The situation is the same as for the lilies, Oenethera and Malva. They all had Less than 50% fertilization and as little as 25% fertilization which is well below any fertilization rate that I have seen in the past 6 years.

I don't know if this is the result of lower bee/wasp rates or the weird weather that we had this year. My Lupins flowered two and three times this year and my hollyhocks sent up flower stocks 3 separate times throughout the spring, summer and fall. Both the lupins and the hollyhocks were in flower after November First. The Malva was still in full bloom when it froze last week.

Allen

Allen,
Is the "float test" a reliable indicator of seed viability for those species?
It is reliable for my Dolichos lablab (Hyacinth Bean), and I'm basically at zero for seed production.
So, for the first time in over 6 years, I bought seeds for 2008 off eBay (from Montreal, Quebec).

Might be attributable to bad weather.
April was very cold, and everything was late.
The wild bee population is obviously not making up for decline of farmed bees.

Even the huge ranch across from my place--they grow 100-200+ acres of cow corn--didn't harvest until 8 weeks after they normally do.

BTW, I planted seeds of Malva years ago. Is it invasive in Edmonton?
It's coming up everywhere, on gravel paths, at fencelines...
Tried to dig the original area out, had to use a mattock (wide-bladed pick-axe).
Roots are so stringy and woody after two years, and they go down to China.
Resorted to Roundup.

Barb

The float test doesn't work for lilies. I tried it with the Godetia last year and almost every seed floated. But I also only got about 20 plants from 250 seeds. In 2006 spring came late and fall came early. The Godetia was still in bloom when we had 4" of snow on the ground. I harvested seed about mid November last fall by cutting plants off at the snow level. The pods had a large percentage of green seed, like your beans, and it took about 15 plants to get the mature seed that I did get.

This year I have a low percentage of green seed but half of the seed pod had nothing.

There are some malva species that are perennial in our area. I usually don't grow them although I have 3 M. moschata. I had to move the moschata this year to make way for my palms and had a hard time getting it out of the ground. It was almost impossible to cut the roots or get underneath them. I keep the seedlings down with a diamond hoe, from Lee Valley, that allows me to weed very close to the plants that I want to keep. I also am growing M. zebrina which is an annual here. If I am not careful this one spreads quickly from seed. I have been maintaining a 6' x 8' planting mainly because it stays in bloom until late October/ early November when everything else except the viola and godetia are finished for the year.

Allen

From what we've both experienced trying to harvest seed, we'll have to try and stress the plants earlier on in the summer so that they put out seed earlier (nice in theory...but 😐 )

I agree that malva etc are long blooming when everything else is fried but, for my place anyway, I plan to kill every malva sp seedling I see. It could become the Canadian version of Kudzu (spelling?) vine.
Ever notice how seed packets NEVER say "INVASIVE"?
They put a nice spin on it with the phrase "has the ability to self-seed" (ya, and if the dog's standing too long on the sidewalk it'll grow into his ear!)

So, no swatting of insects next year, lest it's a honeybee.
Barb

The most invasive plants that I have grown are the amaranthus, an annual blue and white Lupin that I got from Holland and Yarrow. At least the amaranthus and lupin are pretty easy to kill and I was able to get rid of them in 3 years. I am still trying to get rid of non spreading pastel Yarrow that I got from McKenzie seeds 4 years ago. It turned out to be 90% white Yarrow and I still have it around valuable perennials that I am unwilling to spray with round up.

Allen