Monday, March 12, 2012

Pollen coming in?

A couple beekeepers told me they saw their bees bringing in pollen.
There isn't pollen quite yet. The bees are going to bird feeders or deer feeders and picking up dust off of the feed. They will get this seed or corn dust and bring it back to the hive as pollen. Bees will also collect fine sawdust in the very early spring. I knew a beekeeper that someone was building a treated lumber deck across the street from his hive. The bees went over and brought back the treated lumber sawdust. The treated lumber had an insecticide in it. The colony died as the result of this.
Pollen may start coming in as the frost leaves the ground. If there are pussy willows in your area watch them for bees working for available pollen.