Spring means the birds and the bees
Spring is certainly in the air on the Gherardi vineyard. The weather is warming up, the vines are putting on more growth and the birds and bees are becoming active.
We are fortunate to have an abundance of bird life around our garden and vineyard which means insects are kept under control.
A never ending job amongst the vines at this time is the desuckering of unwanted shoots on the trunks. These need to be removed in order that the vine’s energy is put into the developing shoots carrying bunches. This job requires one to put your head down and bum up as you work your way along the rows.
Friday while doing this and not noticing what was ahead I was startled to notice an increase in bee numbers. As I looked up my head centimetres of this!
Yes a classical bee swarm and it was a big one. They were active and really had a buzz about them.
I was concerned that by the following morning they would still be there as I was scheduled to carry out a fungicide spray.
As usually happens, by the next morning, they had moved on.
Vineman