Mixed Forage

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PaleoPerson

Field Bee
Joined
Jul 18, 2009
Messages
705
Reaction score
0
Location
Essex
Hive Type
14x12
Some of my hives are about twenty feet from a field of OSR and this is keeping them busy. However, some of the bees are collecting Horse Chestnut for which they have to travel about three quarters of a mile to collect.

Just because the forage is on their doorstep, it would appear that not all of them take advantage of it.
 
However, some of the bees are collecting Horse Chestnut QUOTE]

How do you know what they are collecting , as it would help me.
Mine are also bringing in the Rape which is light yellow but seen the odd bee with dark rusty yellow pollen baskets
 
However, some of the bees are collecting Horse Chestnut QUOTE]

How do you know what they are collecting , as it would help me.
Mine are also bringing in the Rape which is light yellow but seen the odd bee with dark rusty yellow pollen baskets

My understanding is that it is a very deep red.

Certainly stands out amongst all the yellow. :)
 
Mine are also bringing in the Rape which is light yellow but seen the odd bee with dark rusty yellow pollen baskets

Thought OSR pollen was more a light olive green colour, surely the yellow is more likley to be willow?
 
Did you know that the yellow splashes on each individual horse chestnut flower turn red/pink after they have been pollinated and if you look the bees don't waste time and effort visiting them. They can obviously see the difference.
 
MrB
I just took it as rape because they are over looking a osr field. it's a pale yellow colour.
 
I would think it is the lack of nectar and probable absence of pollen that affects the choices of the bees to visit or not. I am sure they don't care a hoot whether the flower is pollinated/fertilised or not - it just happens while they are foraging.

Might it bee that the bees can no longer actually 'see' those flowers, as the red end of the spectrum is beyond their range, so really not their 'choice'? It would be, evolutionary-wise, more important for the plant to direct the pollinators towards those un-pollinated flowers?

So it may be a case of clever plants rather than clever bees?

Regards, RAB
 
You said:They can obviously see the difference. and the bees don't waste time and effort visiting them

I suggested an entirely alternative scenario, and then you say: Absolutely my point

I must have misunderstood your initial post! I am left wondering how one can 'see' the difference between something one cannot see!

RAB
 
If bees can't see red why do they work the poppy?
quote from ted hopper book or have i read it wrong?
field poppy papaverrhoes, the ordinary red field poppy is principally a plant of the arable areas. only producing pollen, the bees seek it out as it for some reason extremely attractive to them.
 
Just because the flowers reflect red spectral frequencies does not mean that they do not reflect higher frequencies that we are unable to see but the bees can.

Regards, RAB
 
:iagree:

But the original post was that some bees are ignoring the 150 acres of OSR next to the hives to travel a long distance to get Chestnut. As a percentage of foraging bees I would estimate at 1-2% and as OSR was in bloom first, it shows that they were out looking for "something else".
 
quality of pollen maybe , but only thinking aloud
 
Back
Top