The term pollen source is often used in the context of beekeeping and refers to flowering plants as a source of pollen for bees or other insects. Bees collect pollen as a protein source to raise their brood. For the plant, the pollinizer, this can be an important mechanism for sexual reproduction, as the pollinator distributes its pollen. Few flowering plants self-pollinate; some can provide their own pollen (self fertile), but require a pollinator to move the pollen; others are dependent on cross pollination from a genetically different source of viable pollen, through the activity of pollinators. One of the possible pollinators to assist in cross-pollination are honeybees. The article below is mainly about the pollen source from a beekeeping perspective.
The pollen source in a given area depends on the type of vegetation present and the length of their bloom period. What type of vegetation will grow in an area depends on soil texture, soil pH, soil drainage, daily maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, extreme minimum winter temperature, and growing degree days. The plants listed below are plants that would grow in USDA Hardiness zone 5. A good predictor for when a plant will bloom and produce pollen is a calculation of the growing degree days.
The color of pollen below indicates the color as it appears when the pollen arrives at the beehive. After arriving to the colony with a fresh load of pollen, the honey bee unloads its pollen from the pollen basket located on its hind legs. The worker bees in the colony mix dry pollen with nectar and/or honey with their enzymes, and naturally occurring yeast from the air. Workers then compact the pollen. storing each variety in an individual wax hexagonal cell (honeycomb), typically located within their bee brood nest. This creates a fermented pollen mix call beekeepers call 'bee bread'. Dry pollen, is a food source for bees, which may contain 16–30% protein, 1–10% fat, 1–7% starch, many vitamins, some micro nutrients, and possibly a little sugar. The protein source needed for rearing one worker bee from larval to adult stage requires approximately 120 to 145 mg of pollen. An average bee colony will collect about 20 to 57 kg (44 to 125 pounds) of pollen a year. [1] [2]
Common name | Latin name | Blooming months | 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 | ||
Sweet Chestnut | Castanea sativa | May | feral | good | |
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 |
European field elm | Ulmus americana | feral | good |
Common name | Latin name | Blooming months | Pollen color | Availability | Source for honeybees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ajuga (Bronze Bugle, Common Bugle) | Ajuga reptans | mid spring | |||
Chives | Allium schoenoprasum | May – Sep | cultivated? | ||
Asparagus | Asparagus officinalis | May – Jun | bright orange | cultivated | |
Mustard | Brassica arvenisi | Apr – May | lemon | cultivated and feral | |
Canola (Oilseed Rape) | Brassica napus | May – Jun | lemon | extensively cultivated | very good |
Yellow Crocus | Crocus vernus (syn. Crocus aureus) | April | orange yellow | feral and ornamental | fair |
Leopard's Bane | Doronicum cordatum | Apr – May | |||
Winter aconite | Eranthis hyemalis | Mar – Apr | yellow | feral and ornamental | good |
Snowdrop | Galanthus nivalis | Mar – Apr | orange, red | fair | |
Henbit | Lamium amplexicaule | April | orange red, red, purplish red | Apr – Jul | poor |
Common Mallow | Malva sp. | Apr – Sep | mauve | feral | good |
White Sweet Clover | Melilotus alba | May – Aug | yellow to dark yellow | feral and cultivated | good |
Yellow Sweet Clover | Melilotus officinalis | May – Aug | yellow to dark yellow | feral and cultivated | |
Sainfoin | Onobrychis viciifolia | May – Jul | yellow brown | very good | |
Siberian squill | Scilla sibirica | Mar – Apr | steel blue | feral and ornamental | good |
White mustard | Sinapis alba | June | lemon | feral and cultivated | good |
Chick weed | Stellaria media | Apr – Jul | yellowish | feral | minor |
Dandelion | Taraxacum officinale | Apr – May | red yellow, orange | feral | very good |
Gorse | Ulex europaeus | Mar – Dec | light firebrick | feral | good |
Common name | Latin name | Blooming months | Pollen color | Availability | Source for honeybees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Red Horse chestnut | Aesculus carnea | raisin [3] | feral | ||
Horse chestnut | Aesculus hippocastanum | May – Jun after 80-110 growing degree days. | anatolia [3] | feral | good |
Southern Catalpa | Catalpa bignonioides | Jun – Jul | ornamental | fair | |
Northern Catalpa | Catalpa speciosa | Jun – Jul | ornamental | ||
Bluebeard | Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Heavenly Blue' | Aug – Sep | very good | ||
Virginia creeper | Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Jul – Aug | good | ||
Boston Ivy 'Veitchii' | Parthenocissus tricuspidata 'Veitchii' | Jun – Jul | good | ||
Sumac | Rhus glabra | Jun – Jul | |||
Elder | Sambucus canadensis | Jun – Jul | canary yellow [3] | ||
Basswood or American Linden | Tilia americana | Jun – Jul | yellow to light orange | feral and ornamental | |
Little Leaf Linden | Tilia cordata | citrine [3] | feral | ||
Blueberry | Vaccínium myrtíllus | Jun | red yellow, orange | cultivated | poor |
Common name | Latin name | Blooming months | Pollen color | Availability | Source for honeybees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allium | Allium spp. | feral and cultivated | |||
Onion | Allium cepa | light olive | cultivated | ||
Chives | Allium schoenoprasum | May – Sep | feral and cultivated | ||
Garlic chives | Allium tuberosa | Aug – Sep | feral and cultivated | ||
Leadwort syn. Indigobush | Amorpha fruticosa | Jun – Jul | ornamental? | ||
Aster | Aster spp. | Sep-Frost | reddish yellow | feral and ornamental | |
Land-in-blue, Bushy Aster | Aster x dumosus | Aug – Sep | bronze yellow [3] | feral | |
Borage | Borago officinalis | Jun – Frost | blueish grey | ornamental | |
Marigold | Calendula officinalis | Jun – Sep | orange | ||
Heather sp. | Calluna vulgaris | Jul – Aug | yellow white, white | good | |
Hemp | Cannabis sativa | Aug | yellow green | good source | |
Blue Thistle | Carduus spp. | ||||
Star thistle | Centaurea spp. | Jul – Sep | |||
Persian centaurea | Centaurea dealbata | hemp [3] | |||
Knapweed | Centaurea macrocephala | Jul – Aug | good | ||
Knapweed | Centaurea nigra | very light olive | |||
Chicory [4] | Cichorium intybus L. | white | |||
Cotoneaster | Cotoneaster spp. | good | |||
Cucumber | Cucumis spp. | pale yellow | cultivated | ||
Melons | Cucumis melo | Jun-Frost | pale yellow | cultivated | |
Pumpkin | Cucurbita pepo | Jun-Frost | bright yellow | cultivated | |
Fireweed (Rosebay Willowherb) | Epilobium angustifolium | Jul – Aug | blue | feral | |
Joe-Pye weed, Bluestem | Eutrochium spp.; Eupatorium purpureum | Aug – Sep | bistre green | ||
Buckwheat | Fagopyrum esculentum | Jul – Aug | light yellow to light green | cultivated | good source |
Blue vine | Gonolobus laevis syn. Cynanchum laeve | ||||
Sunflower | Helianthus annuus | Jun – Sep | golden | feral and cultivated | |
Jewelweed | Impatients capensis | yellowish white | |||
Alyssum | Lobularia maritima | Jun – Sep | |||
Lupin | Lupinus sp. | Jun – Jul | white, yellow or blue | minor | |
Mallow | Malva sylvestris | Jun – Sep | |||
Alfalfa | Medicago sativa | July – Aug | khaki [3] | feral and cultivated | |
Clover | Melilotus spp. and Trifolium spp. | May – Aug | feral and cultivated | ||
White Sweet Clover | Melilotus alba | auburn [3] | feral and cultivated | ||
Yellow Sweet Clover | Melilotus officinalis | auburn [3] | feral and cultivated | ||
Basil | Ocimum basilicum | white | ornamental | ||
Poppy | Papaver orientale | May – Jul | blueish grey | ornamental only | good source [5] |
Opium poppy | Papaver somniferum | May – Jun | grey | feral and ornamental | very good source |
Phacelia | Phacelia tanacetifolia | Jun – Sep | navy blue | feral and cultivated | good source |
Smartweed | Polygonum spp. | Aug – Sep | |||
Common Chickweed | Stellaria media | Apr – Jul | minor source | ||
Germander | Teucrium chamaedrys | Jul – Aug | |||
Alsike Clover | Trifolium hybridum | yellow brown | good source | ||
Crimson Clover | Trifolium incarnatum | dark brown | |||
White Clover | Trifolium repens | Jun – Jul | caledonian brown | good source | |
Cat-tail | Typha latifolia | Jun – Jul | |||
Common vetch [ verification needed ] | Vicia cracca | Jul – Aug | |||
Spring Vetch [ verification needed ] | Vicia sativa | Jul – Aug | |||
Sweet Corn | Zea mays | Jun – Jul | yellowish white | cultivated |
Common name | Latin name | Blooming months | Pollen color | Availability | Source for honeybees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese Elm, Lacebark Elm | Ulmus parvifolia | Aug – Sep | ornamental | good |
Common name | Latin name | Blooming months | Pollen color | Availability | Source for honeybees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aster | Aster spp. | Sep-Frost | reddish yellow | ||
Borage | Borago officinalis | Jun – Frost | |||
Melons | Cucumis melo | Jun-Frost | cultivated | ||
Sweet autumn clematis | Clematis ternifolia | late Sept | white | ornamental | |
Pumpkin | Cucurbita pepo | Jun-Frost | bright yellow | cultivated | |
Ivy | Hedera spp. | Sep – Oct | dull yellow or black? | feral and ornamental | |
Goldenrod | Solidago spp. | Sep – Oct | golden | feral |
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their role in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea. They are presently considered a clade, called Anthophila. There are over 16,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families. Some species – including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees – live socially in colonies while most species (>90%) – including mason bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees – are solitary.
A honey bee is a eusocial flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade, all native to Eurasia. They are known for their construction of perennial colonial nests from wax, the large size of their colonies, and surplus production and storage of honey, distinguishing their hives as a prized foraging target of many animals, including honey badgers, bears and human hunter-gatherers. Only eight surviving species of honey bee are recognized, with a total of 43 subspecies, though historically 7 to 11 species are recognized. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees.
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Beekeeping is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made hives, by humans. Most such bees are honey bees in the genus Apis, but other honey-producing bees such as Melipona stingless bees are also kept. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produce, to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary or "bee yard".
In beekeeping, bee brood or brood refers to the eggs, larvae and pupae of honeybees. The brood of Western honey bees develops within a bee hive. In man-made, removable frame hives, such as Langstroth hives, each frame which is mainly occupied by brood is called a brood frame. Brood frames usually have some pollen and nectar or honey in the upper corners of the frame. The rest of the brood frame cells may be empty or occupied by brood in various developmental stages. During the brood raising season, the bees may reuse the cells from which brood has emerged for additional brood or convert it to honey or pollen storage. Bees show remarkable flexibility in adapting cells to a use best suited for the hive's survival.
For bees, their forage or food supply consists of nectar and pollen from blooming plants within flight range. The forage sources for honey bees are an important consideration for beekeepers. In order to determine where to locate hives for maximum honey production and brood one must consider the off-season. If there are no honey flows the bees may have to be fed. Bees that are used for commercial pollination are usually fed in the holding yards. Forage is also significant for pollination management with other bee species. Nectar contains sugars that are the primary source of energy for the bees' wing muscles and for heat for honey bee colonies for winter. Pollen provides the protein and trace minerals that are mostly fed to the brood in order to replace bees lost in the normal course of life cycle and colony activity.
A nectar source is a flowering plant that produces nectar as part of its reproductive strategy. These plants create nectar, which attract pollinating insects and sometimes other animals such as birds.
Hive management in beekeeping refers to intervention techniques that a beekeeper may perform to ensure hive survival and to maximize hive production. Hive management techniques vary widely depending on the objectives.
This page is a glossary of beekeeping.
Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees, comprising the tribe Meliponini. They belong in the family Apidae, and are closely related to common honey bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees, and bumblebees. Meliponines have stingers, but they are highly reduced and cannot be used for defense, though these bees exhibit other defensive behaviors and mechanisms. Meliponines are not the only type of "stingless" bee; all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae, also cannot sting. Some stingless bees have painful and powerful bites.
In zoology, a palynivore /pəˈlɪnəvɔːɹ/, meaning "pollen eater" is an herbivorous animal which selectively eats the nutrient-rich pollen produced by angiosperms and gymnosperms. Most true palynivores are insects or mites. The category in its strictest application includes most bees, and a few kinds of wasps, as pollen is often the only solid food consumed by all life stages in these insects. However, the category can be extended to include more diverse species. For example, palynivorous mites and thrips typically feed on the liquid content of the pollen grains without actually consuming the exine, or the solid portion of the grain. Additionally, the list is expanded greatly if one takes into consideration species where either the larval or adult stage feeds on pollen, but not both. There are other wasps which are in this category, as well as many beetles, flies, butterflies, and moths. One such example of a bee species that only consumes pollen in its larval stage is the Apis mellifera carnica. There is a vast array of insects that will feed opportunistically on pollen, as will various birds, orb-weaving spiders and other nectarivores.
The East African lowland honey bee is a subspecies of the western honey bee. It is native to central, southern and eastern Africa, though at the southern extreme it is replaced by the Cape honey bee. This subspecies has been determined to constitute one part of the ancestry of the Africanized bees spreading through North and South America.
The western honey bee or European honey bee is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", referring to the species' production of honey.
Commercial Beekeeping in the United States dates back to the 1860s.
Tetragonula carbonaria is a stingless bee, endemic to the north-east coast of Australia. Its common name is sugarbag bee. They are also occasionally referred to as bush bees. The bee is known to pollinate orchid species, such as Dendrobium lichenastrum, D. toressae, and D. speciosum. It has been identified as an insect that collects pollen from the cycad Cycas media. They are also known for their small body size, reduced wing venation, and highly developed social structure comparable to honey bees.
Bombus fervidus, the golden northern bumble bee or yellow bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to North America. It has a yellow-colored abdomen and thorax. Its range includes the North American continent, excluding much of the southern United States, Alaska, and the northern parts of Canada. It is common in cities and farmland, with populations concentrated in the Northeastern part of the United States. It is similar in color and range to its sibling species, Bombus californicus, though sometimes also confused with the American bumblebee or black and gold bumblebee. It has complex behavioral traits, which includes a coordinated nest defense to ward off predators. B. fervidus is an important pollinator, so recent population decline is a particular concern.
Trigona fuscipennis is a stingless bee species that originates in Mexico but is also found in Central and South America. They are an advanced eusocial group of bees and play a key role as pollinators in wet rainforests. The species has many common names, including mapaitero, sanharó, abelha-brava, xnuk, k'uris-kab, enreda, corta-cabelo, currunchos, zagaño, and enredapelos.
Beekeeping in Australia is a commercial industry with around 25,000 registered beekeepers owning over 670,000 hives by 2019. Most are to be found in the eastern states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania and in the south-west corner of Western Australia.