Wednesday wordphile: honey flow
Honey flow is one of those confusing terms, especially to new beekeepers. What is flowing during a honey flow is actually nectar. Technically, it should be called a nectar flow. A honey flow is simply...
View ArticleBees from coast to coast agree . . .
I love this little video from diagonally across the country because it proves I’m not hallucinating–honey bees really do like cedar pollen. The video, shot by Paul in Florida, compares nicely with my...
View ArticleSo is it honey or not?
A lot of press has surrounded a story that recently appeared in Food Safety News. The writer of the piece insisted that 76% of all supermarket honey is not honey at all. The reason? It contains no...
View ArticleTangled up in blue
I wasn’t paying much attention to Pandora last night until I heard that old Bob Dylan tune, “Tangled up in Blue.” Oddly, I didn’t think of the ’70s or the disparately sad lyrics. No, not me . . . I...
View ArticleBumble bee with mixed pollen
As beekeepers we are used to seeing pollen pellets of a solid color. This is due to the famous “floral fidelity” of honey bees. It means that on any one foraging trip, a honey bee collects pollen from...
View ArticleThe logistics of pollen
All bees have one thing in common: they use pollen and nectar to feed both themselves and their young. However, the best way to bring pollen and larvae together has been a subject of disagreement among...
View ArticleDoes pollen cause crystallization?
A common justification for the ultrafiltration of honey is “it lasts longer on the shelves.” In other words, the ultrafiltration process—which removes all debris, including any pollen grains—delays...
View ArticlePollen tramps I have known: Isabella
When I began my search for the trampiest ladies in town, the bees sent me to a stand of thistle adjacent to the appaloosa club. The thistle, standing prickly and purple in the morning sun, was asparkle...
View ArticleCount down till winter
I love the colors of fall but they make me melancholy too. It sounds silly, but I know I will miss my bees during the winter and I will worry about them constantly. The colors in this shot are rich and...
View ArticleYellow rain
Although it is late fall here in the northern hemisphere, it is late spring in New Zealand. Down there the honey bees are rocketing from nest to nectar and back again, feeding their young and leaving...
View ArticleDoes pink pollen make pink honey?
No. Honey is made from nectar, not pollen. Furthermore, the color of the pollen and the color of the nectar have nothing to do with each other. For example, blackberry pollen is gray and blackberry...
View ArticleDo honey bees pollinate wheat?
No. Grasses are flowering plants that are wind pollinated. Since the grasses do not need to attract animal pollinators, the plants do not expend energy to produce colorful petals, nectars, or...
View ArticleBumble bee on piggy-back plant
Piggy-back plant, also known as youth-on-age, is a delicate little woodland plant in the saxifrage family. The species, Tolmiea menziesii, is native to the Pacific Northwest coast where it grows in...
View ArticleHourglass bees
What looks like an hourglass-shaped paint splotch on the thorax of some bees is actually pollen. In the past I often saw these stripes—usually in yellow—and wondered what they were. The bees look like...
View ArticleHoney bee forage: Siberian squill
I am fascinated by blue pollen: it seems so over-the-top. Nature provides cool things, but to me, blue pollen is gratuitous, an act of sheer beauty. Although I’ve posted photos of it before, they’ve...
View ArticleReminder: pollen is not nectar
As the sun climbs higher and shafts of spring gild the budding branches, it is easy to believe your bees survived the winter. Workers parade into the hive with pollen loads, new foragers orbit the hive...
View ArticleBee on a corn tassel
I just love the colors in this photo by Lorelei Caracausa. Her husband says Lorelei is interested in beekeeping techniques from the 1800s through the early 1900s, and has much of the equipment to...
View ArticleWinter pollen for bees: snowdrops, crocus, and squill
Good news: if you act quickly, you can still plant some early-blooming perennial bulbs and corms for your bees. During a quick check of local stores yesterday, I was able to find my three favorites:...
View ArticlePlant a flower, answer a survey
Researchers studying the decline of bee species in the Netherlands have discovered that bees disappear along with their native forage. The research, published this week in Proceedings of the National...
View ArticleA shortage of pollen
Many bees, including honey bees, collect multiple kinds of pollen and can adapt when a particular type becomes scarce. However, many native bees are completely dependent on a single plant species and...
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