What are you bees foraging for?

[Sanctuary]

I spend a few minutes watching the incoming bees, counting how many did (and didn't have) balls of pollen on their legs.

I reckon one-third had pollen.

Does that mean the rest are foraging for nectar and/or water instead of pollen?

What proportion of your bees come back with pollen?

 

[lilybetbee]

Wet and windy today - so not doing much at all.

 

[oliver90owner]

What proportion of your bees come back with pollen?

C'mon, this is not a fixed amount, is it? It will depend on lots of factors and those factors will change -quite likely on a daily basis. Think common sense. The bees do.

 

[markfitz]

hi sanctuary I think it depends on the time of the year, in late spring early summer when there mostly concentrating on rearing loads of brood they be bringing in more pollen then nectar, from late june onwards there thinking about there winter stores so they be bringing in more nectar than pollen.

 

[oliver90owner]

from late june onwards there thinking about there winter stores so they be bringing in more nectar than pollen.

You forgot, or ignored, water collection? Both in very hot weather (a thing of the past, maybe) and early springtime....

Orientation flights might make up a large percentage of returners at certain times, too. So rather depends on when this 'time' occurs as well.

 

[beeno]

I spend a few minutes watching the incoming bees, counting how many did (and didn't have) balls of pollen on their legs.

I reckon one-third had pollen.

Does that mean the rest are foraging for nectar and/or water instead of pollen?

What proportion of your bees come back with pollen?

Hi Sanctuary,
I have done that! Fascinating isn't it? Apart from availability, the main focus of bringing in pollen is the extent of brood they are rearing. But the most pollen I have seen coming in was when the winter bees gorged themselves on Ivy pollen last autumn in order to build up their protein reserves! Out of 202 bees 200 carried enormous pollen baskets. It was a great surprise to me therefore to find their cupboards bare at OA. The ones with heavy looking abdomens are carrying water or nectar. Don't forget that they are foraging for propolis too, but I believe they carry this on their back legs, but not in their pollen sacs. Yet to see that! Enjoy.

 

[oliver90owner]

Interesting. My dictionary refers to forage as food, not building materials. It is actually rather specific in that it only considers horses and cattle but that is rather beside the point, I would think. I think the starting letters of the word were likely derived from the word food.

So is propolis forage? I think not. Doubtless there are some who have 'read it somewhere', mind.

Maybe water is not considered as forage either but the need for it, as part of food, cannot be ignored.

 

[Finman]

.
Weathers here are 23C- 28C

Raspberry is gone. Fireweed is not yeat well open. Some rape fields, but rare.

examples from balance hive and results from raspberry

18.06.2013 ...3,0 kg
19.06.2013 ...4,5
20.06....rain
21.06.2013....6,0
22.06.2013....3,0 kg

 

[Finman]

Does that mean the rest are foraging for nectar and/or water instead of pollen?

What proportion of your bees come back with pollen?

Bees bring nectar if they get it from flowers.

Water and pollen they need for living. Pollen is their "meat food".

When the colony is growing fast, they have much brood but few foragers.

The foragers of these days were eggs in the middle of May. If you have 3 frames brood in first half of May, you have such anmount of foragers.
Now they have 1-2 boxes brood, and all food goes to feed larvae.