Is Wisteria poisonous to bees?

[carbon]

I have a beautiful white Wisteria in bloom and I noticed the bees have discovered it. A quick online search suggests, albeit inconclusively, that it might be poisonous to the bees.

Does anyone know if this is the case? If it is, why are the bees foraging on it?

 

[pbh4]

FN Howes, Plants and Beekeeping:

WISTERIA W.sinensis: Leguminosae
The purple masses of bloom of this magnificent creeper will
attract the honey bee in some seasons but not in others. They
appear towards the end of May as a rule and there is sometimes
a second but much smaller crop of flowers in August. In bright or
warm weather bees visit the flowers for nectar at Kew but when
conditions are cool they seem to offer little attraction. In other
warmer climates the flowers of Wistaria are known to be worked for
nectar and pollen.
​

 

[carbon]

Thanks pbh4 -- so do you think that because the bees are known to work Wisteria that it shouldn't cause them any ill effects? I read elsewhere that the blooms are toxic to some other animals.

 

[alanf]

do you think that because the bees are known to work Wisteria that it shouldn't cause them any ill effects?

Plants which are dependent on pollination by bees and other insects are not going to evolve poisonous nectar or pollen. Killing off the pollinator population is not going to improve the prospects of any plant in getting seeds produced.

Plants are poisonous for a purpose, usually to deter those who would otherwise eat them. They are producing substances that consume resources, they only produce them where they have an effect. Because foliage or seeds are poisonous or distasteful on a particular plant it doesn't follow that the nectar or pollen is.

 

[Swarm]

Your Wisteria will provide good forage for your bees. Not sure about some/no attraction, mine is alive with bees every year.

 

[Luminos]

Your Wisteria will provide good forage for your bees. Not sure about some/no attraction, mine is alive with bees every year.

So is mine

 

[Swarm]

Forgot to add ..... To the point of being intimidating to sit under it. The sound is almost like a freshly shook frame.

 

[johnandyrob]

Nature is a strange thing I believe that the only insect that pollinates almonds is the honey bee yet almonds are toxic to bees. I do stand to be corrected but have either read this or seen it on a documentary

 

[Rich0909]

Nature is a strange thing I believe that the only insect that pollinates almonds is the honey bee yet almonds are toxic to bees. I do stand to be corrected but have either read this or seen it on a documentary

I guess no one has told the american bee farmers who take their bees to pollinate the almond crop in California - possible cause of CCD perhaps?

 

[RoofTops]

Almond is not toxic to bees as far as I know but it's pollen has very little nutritional value so colonies are at risk from a lack of protein if they feed on almond exclusively - as they often do in California. This is why a lot of colonies die during almond pollination.

 

[Alabamaeee]

They don't like the smell of almonds though, as bee quick soon shifts them outa the supers

 

[johnandyrob]

Almond is not toxic to bees as far as I know but it's pollen has very little nutritional value so colonies are at risk from a lack of protein if they feed on almond exclusively - as they often do in California. This is why a lot of colonies die during almond pollination.

There was a study taking place last year at Newcastle University part funded by the government in to bee nutrition and the came up with some very strange results including almonds toxicity to honey bees. There was also a stydy undertaken by the University of Haifa- oranim on the toxins found in almond nectar and there relationship with bees.