The Girls LOVE Plum

So, in our area things are starting to slow down as far as blooming. Although, there are some other plants/trees that are starting to bloom. That will be short lived and the bees will be looking for other sources of nectar.

My plum tree is exploding with fruit and I'm having to go out and chase off the birds quite often. Hanging DVD/CD's and building a scarecrow is only slowing them down. While picking ripe plums, I noticed one of the bees at a piece of fruit that was pecked open, yet still on the tree. This had me thinking - I'll give ripe plums to the hive to see if they would eat them.

So, how I did this was - if the fruit didn't have a split in it already, I would just pinch off a dime-size piece and lay them on top of the inner cover. Well, it didn't take long, but an hour, before they fully encompassed it. In about 1 hour I learn this was the right decision vs. let the fruit rot on the ground. Click below to see them in action! (double-click to toggle full screen)

You'll notice that most of them are actually not consuming it - but they're all coming up to encompass it, as if they were all hugging it and saying "thank-you thank-you". Although, this is more of a protection and defense against the ants that could eventually come in - which is normally just an annoyance, but competition in this case.