Pollen source

Pollen source

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 [http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html 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. Bees mix dry pollen with nectar and/or honey to compact the pollen in the pollen basket. Dry pollen, is a food source for bees, which contains 16 - 30% protein, 1 - 10% fat, 1 - 7% starch, many vitamins, but 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.

Source: [http://www.nhb.org/download/research/rvalue.pdf THE R-VALUES OF HONEY: POLLEN COEFFICIENT] accessed Feb 2005

pring

Trees and shrubs - Spring

Flowers and annual crop plants - Summer

Source: Bienenweide Arbeitsblatt 207, Bieneninstitut Kirchhain, 2001

ee also

*Nectar source
*Forage (honeybee)
*List of honey plants

External links

* [http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2168.html Some Ohio Nectar and Pollen Producing Plants] Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet, 2000, Dr. James Tew
* [http://www.beeclass.com/DTS/master.htm Honey Plants Flowering Plants/Trees] Dana Stahlman, 2004
*The pollen loads of the honeybee, Dorothy Hodges, Bee Research Association Limited, London, 1952
* [http://me.in-berlin.de/~tlamp/beefood.html Bienennährpflanzen 1 : Gehölze] Nov 1999, Thomas Lamp; accessed 05/2005


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