If the bees "follow the rules"

[Kathyp]

If you go to place where soil is loose, you find easily rope like roots. They are quite near  surface.

thanks for the info.  that would have been much easier than climbing around in blackberries and weeds trying to strip off fuzzy seeds  ;)

[Cindi]

but I do remember last year noticing it around probably the middle of July up until the beginning of October. 

You live in Canada ? and it must be same  fireweed?  http://www.eagleharborweb.net/images/fireweed.jpg

Here it start to bloom at the beginning of July and bloom about 3 weeks.

If you go to place where soil is loose, you find easily rope like roots. They are quite near  surface.

Finsky, I looked at the pic, beautiful, it seems to be the same plant, the ones that grow around here are quite pink though, the one in the picture resembles rather purple.  I read that there are several species of fireweed, so maybe the one growing around my place is not the exact.  We have a long growing period in summer, and our fireweed does grow and flower for a long, long time, at least a couple of months at the shortest.  Ours grows I would say 8 or 9 feet tall, is an enormous plant, I could not reach the top to get the seeds up there, I had to bend over the stalk and reach that way, so maybe it was closer to 10 feet.  It is huge.  Lovely.  Still thinking I will go out and get some mature plants though, just for the fun of it.  Great day.  Cindi

[Finsky]

In this forum chain I tell how I moved my big hives to fireweed fileds in the middle of day. I do not bother any more do that at night.
http://bees.freesuperhost.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1121627860

I have learner that in  sandy and dry soil fireweed does not give nectar. But when it is moist clay soil and weather is good, it gives tremendous volume.  So fireweed and fireweed are different. In first picture landscape is too poor and dry. We have that square miles on harvester forest areas.

[Cindi]

Finksy, WOW, very nice pictures.  That field of fireweed looks so beautiful.  You have some very nice pictures that were taken. The only downside is that I cannot read the Finnish language.  Too bad.  I have no sandy dry soil, mine is very full or rich nutrient from forest trees, lots of dark beautiful soil, and moisture and lots of sunshine weather in summer.  I hope then that I will have lots of nectar from the fireweed.  Such a pretty plant when it grows in such number like the picture.  By the way, my mother was Finnish, as is my brother-in-laws wife.  She goes back to Finland every year.  Great day.  Cindi

[Finsky]

  By the way, my mother was Finnish, ...

EH That's interesting.

But you have marvellous lanscape there  Maple ridge
http://www.penmachine.com/photoessays/2004_08_aerial2/12-mapleridge-tb.html

Other aerial photo gallery)

http://www.penmachine.com/photoessays/2004_08_aerial2/16-hope-tb.html

[Cindi]

  By the way, my mother was Finnish, ...

EH That's interesting.

But you have marvellous lanscape there  Maple ridge
http://www.penmachine.com/photoessays/2004_08_aerial2/12-mapleridge-tb.html

Other aerial photo gallery)

Finsky, awesome pics of our area.  Yes, we have beautiful mountains and delta plains.  Close to our home, about 5 km northwest are the Golden Ears, Bluemountain, and many other very big mountains.  We have many small lakes that provide lots of summertime fun, dams, rivers, creeks, and streams.  We have had flooding in some of our smaller rivers recently, not as terrible as in someplaces.  Gone a little off topic, but gotta post, I think I have an addition now.  One of our biggest Fraser Valley fruit crops is blueberries and cranberries, along with many others, of course.  But oh the blueberries, I have about 40 plants now, can't wait for the blueberry flowers, they are the sweetest smelling blossoms, the air is permeated with this fragrance when they are in full bloom.  Can't wait. I am going to plant pumpkins in great number too, the bees go nuts on pumpkin flowers, so cute to watch them climb inside, fun watching the bees and what they do.   Regards.  Cindi

http://www.penmachine.com/photoessays/2004_08_aerial2/16-hope-tb.html