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About Pollen

butterfly pollinating

Pollen goes unnoticed by most of us, except when hay fever strikes, but Pollen also offers many health benefits and is what Honey bees use to make Honey.  Also microscopes reveal pollen comes in many stunning colors and shapes.

The term pollen source is what beekeepers use to identify flowers that are source of pollen for bees.

Bees collect pollen to make a protein rich food to raise their offspring.

bee carrying pollenThis is critical for the reproductive process of the plant. For the plant, the bee becomes a pollinizer and distributes its pollen. Very few flowering plants self-pollinate. The vast majority of plants, including most food crops, require a pollinator to move the pollen. There are some that rely upon on cross-pollination from a genetically different source. Without the pollinators’ activity, the plants would become extinct. Honeybees are one of the critical pollinators assisting in cross-pollination. This article discusses the pollen source from a beekeeping point of view.

The pollen source in an area is the result of the type of plants and flowers

Wildflowers produce dark, rich honeyThe pollen source in an area is the result of the type of plants and flowers growing in an area and how long the bloom period might be. The type of vegetation that will grow in an area depends on soil texture, soil pH, soil drainage. The amount of rain, daily maximum and minimum temperatures, how cold and how long the winter period and the number of peak growing days. The plants listed below are plants that would grow in USDA Hardiness 5. A formula to predict when a plant will bloom and produce pollen is used based on the number of peak growing days.

The color of the pollen

The color of the pollen in the chart shows the color of the pollen freshly arrived at the hive. Bees take nectar and/or honey and mix it with the pollen and press it into a pollen basket located on the back legs of honeybees. This dry pollen is food for the bees and contains significant amounts of protein fat starch, vitamins, but little sugar. This food source is much needed for the development of the larval stage to adult worker bees. The average bee colony can collect over 100 pounds of pollen a year.

Common name Latin name In Bloom Pollen color Availability Source for honeybees
Maple Acer spp. Feb – Apr light yellow feral fair
Manitoba Maple (Box elder) Acer negundo Feb – Apr light olive feral good
Norway maple Acer platanoides Apr – May yellow green, olive feral fair
Red Maple Acer rubrum Mar – Apr grey brown feral
Grey Alder Alnus incana Feb – Apr brownish yellow feral
American Chestnut Castanea dentata May – Jun mostly ornamental
Common Hackberry Celtis occidentalis Apr – May feral
Flowering Quince Chaenomeles japonica, Chaenomeles lagenaria, Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Nivalis’, Chaenomeles x superba Apr – May feral good
American Hazel Corylus americana Mar – Apr light green feral and ornamental fair/good
Hawthorn Crataegus spp. Apr – May yellow brown feral fair
White Ash Fraxinus americana Apr – May
Honey Locust Gleditsia triancanthos May – Jun feral
American holly Ilex opaca Apr – Jun feral
Walnut Juglans spp. Apr – May cultivated fair
Tulip-tree Lirodendron tulipifera May – Jun cream feral and ornamental good
Crab Apple Malus spp. Mar – Jun light olive ornamental
Apple Malus domestica, Malus sylvestris Apr – May yellow white cultivated and ornamental very good
American Sycamore Platanus occidentalis Apr – May light olive feral
Plum Prunus spp. Apr – May light grey, grey ornamental and cultivated
Almond Prunus amygdalus Feb light brown to brown pollen – not considered a good pollen source but bees are the primary pollinator cultivated mostly in California fair
Wild Cherry Prunus avium Apr – May yellow brown, light brown feral very good
Cherry Plum Prunus cerasifera light brown to brown feral fair
Sour Cherry Prunus cerasus Apr – May dark yellow ornamental and cultivated very good
Peach Prunus persica Apr – May reddish yellow ornamental and cultivated good
Black Cherry Prunus serotina Apr – May feral minor
Blackthorn Prunus spinosa Mar – May firebrick feral good
Pear Pyrus communis Apr – May red yellow ornamental and cultivated good
Oak Quercus spp. May feral
Oak Quercus robur, Quercus pedunculata May light olive feral minor
Black Locust Robinia pseudoacacia May – Jun feral
Blackberry Rubus spp. May – Jun light grey feral and cultivated
Raspberry Rubus idaeus May – Jun white grey feral and cultivated good
Willow Salix spp. Feb – Apr lemon feral good
White Willow Salix alba feral good
Goat Willow Salix caprea Mar – Apr feral very good
Violet Willow Salix daphnoides Mar – Apr feral very good
Pussy Willow Salix discolor Mar – Apr feral and ornamental
Basket Willow Salix purpurea Mar – Apr feral very good
Silky leaf osier, Smith’s Willow Salix x smithiana Apr – May very good
American mountain ash Sorbus americana May-Jun feral
American Elm Ulmus americana Feb – Apr light grey feral
Winged Elm Ulmus alata Feb – Mar pale yellow feral good
Europea field elm Ulmus americana feral good
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source

Plant pollination process

Wildflowers produce dark, rich honeyThe plant pollination process describes the vital method of sexual reproduction in plants. It enables a plant to bear fruit and seeds, many of which are not only eaten by humans, but also by other living species from birds to mammals. Birds and mammals may then distribute those seeds to new geographical locations through their droppings.

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Lord Byron’s Apiary
P.O. Box 242
Thurmont, Md. 21788
(301) 271-9057

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