Trees Archives - Duckworths of Chiswick

The Acacias are out, in full bloom and great profusion. All that lovely nectar for the bees. The Bumbles will use it during the summer and the Honey bees will store it as Honey.

The Sycamores have been and gone. They are considered, by most people to be a weed, but in fact provide large quantities of nectar and vital pollen, bee protein, early in the year, to feed the bee larvae in their early development, and boost the bee numbers ready for the honey collection. And now that the young Queens are being reared, plentiful supplies of pollen are essential. A Queen starts life as just an ordinary worker egg, but is fed Royal Jelly, which is largely made from pollen, and this rich diet, throughout her larval stage, develops her ovaries and eggs. So a young Queen needs a rich diet of pollen if she is going to be up to the job of being the only egg layer in the colony, laying up to 2,000 eggs a day at the height of the summer.

The Plane trees, which along with the Sycamores are members of the Maple family, flower very early in the year. The jury is out as to whether or not bees use Plane trees for food. Perhaps if the weather is mild in February when they flower, say above 10 degrees C, when the bees will fly, they may forage on them.

In the last 12 months I have witnessed 5 large street trees destroyed in the few streets near my home in Grove Park: a mature Sycamore at Chiswick Station, a Lime on Grove Park Terrace near the level crossing, and another on Grove Park Road opposite John Thaw’s old house. A Lime and a Willow have been removed on Strand-on-the-Green, and as with the beautiful Willow poisoned and removed outside No 68 Strand-on-the-Green 2 years ago, NONE of these trees have been replaced, despite the Council’s promises.

We have not seen the wholesale carnage committed in Sheffield a few months back when an estimated 15,000 street trees were culled. The bees will disappear from Sheffield. But if our large trees are removed at the present rate in Chiswick, our bees will disappear. As a bee keeper, I am certain that if we save Chiswick’s wonderful trees, the Sycamores, Limes, Acacias, Chestnuts, Maples, Aulders and Willows, the bee keepers can do the rest, and we CAN save our Chiswick bees. We don’t realise what a rich heritage we have.

For that reason, I would like to nominate ‘the Street Trees of Chiswick, W4’ to be included in the ‘Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy’. Our street trees need protecting every bit as much as trees in other parts of the world, from misguided actions. If we do nothing, they will be steadily replaced by the non-bee-friendly Ornaments the Council plant in their place, to be free of maintenance, and Chiswick can say goodbye to its bees.

Will you support me to raise a petition to join the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy?

Email me on annetteduckworth01@gmail.com

We are often told about plants which are good for pollinators, and in the towns and cities, we assume that it is our gardens that hold the key. But it is not our garden flowers that help the bees the most. Garden flowers can be good, but in terms of volume of food, they are limited in what they can produce. And many gardeners have to spray their plants. A large street tree on the other hand, with its spreading canopy with thousands of flowers, provides a huge amount of food – pollens and nectars, and these make for healthy bees. In our part of London we have perhaps a hundred Lime trees, some Acacias and False Acacias; avenues of Horse Chestnuts and Plane trees. A few Sweet Chestnuts and all the Sycamores that have seeded themselves and not been removed. There are also the flowering cherries, except those artificially made sterile, and all the trees that are not wind pollinated should provide insects with food. In short, it is the street trees that make London good for bees. They provide a variety of pollens – we all need a varied diet to be healthy, and they also provide quantity so the bees do not go hungry.

It is often only after the event that we realise we have lost something precious. While we have it, we do not really value it.

I am grateful that our local Council has put the needs of pollinators on their radar now. They have planted wild flower areas around the margins of the parks, under the trees. But the bees must have a little laugh about it. ‘Look up’, they would say “These brilliant trees are our real source of food”.

It is often only after the event that we realise we have lost something precious. While we have it, we do not really value it. So I want to raise awareness of the fantastic heritage of trees we have here in Chiswick and probably the whole of urban Britain before they are lost, not just to us but to local bees who depend on them. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. So many beautiful healthy trees are being taken down by tree surgeons who have a 25 year contract with our local council. When the tree surgeons are paid per tree, there is no incentive to put the needs of the environment first. But with the enormous cost of replanting trees – at the last count on the Council website it was £419 to replant a sapling – this policy must change.

So can I ask you to keep an eye out for your local trees and protect them? Some Councils still need to realise how important our trees are for the environment. Pruning should be done AFTER they have finished flowering, and BEFORE the next year’s buds have developed. Why not reduce the lower branches of our beautiful tall trees but let their canopies spread? This will let in light to the buildings but give gentle shade from overhead on those hot summer days.

Thanks to the wide variety of nectars available to my bees here in Chiswick my honey is beautifully fragrant with such a fresh taste that you are instantly transported back to summer. Unfortunately it is only available locally so get in touch if you’d like a list of our stockists.

Category: Trees

The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy

Bees & Trees