The term pollen source is often used in the context of
beekeeping
Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...
and refers to flowering plants as a source of
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...
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
Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote tha ...
, as the
pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are ...
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
Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...
present and the length of their bloom period. What type of vegetation will grow in an area depends on soil texture,
soil pH
Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. pH is defined as the neg ...
, 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
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
br>
Hardiness zone5. A good predictor for when a plant will bloom and produce
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...
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. After arriving to the colony with a fresh load of pollen, the honey bee unloads its pollen from the
pollen basket
The pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) is part of the tibia on the hind legs of the female of certain species of bees. They use the structure in harvesting pollen and carrying it to the nest or hive where it is used as food by the col ...
located on its hind legs. The
worker bee
A worker bee is any female bee that lacks the reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee and carries out the majority of tasks needed for the functioning of the hive. While worker bees are present in all eusocial bee species, the term is rar ...
s in the colony mix dry pollen with
nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...
and/or
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
with their enzymes, and naturally occurring yeast from the air. Workers then compact the pollen. storing each variety in an individual wax hexagonal cell (
honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and stores of honey and pol ...
), typically located within their
bee brood nest. This creates a fermented pollen mix call
beekeeper
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper ow ...
s call 'bee bread'.
Dry pollen, is a food source for bees, which may contain 16–30% protein, 1–10% fat, 1–7% starch, many vitamins, some micro nutrients, and possibly a 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.
Spring
Trees and shrubs – Spring
Gallery
File:Ucan-ari1.jpg, Flying honeybee with red pollen in pollen basket
The pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) is part of the tibia on the hind legs of the female of certain species of bees. They use the structure in harvesting pollen and carrying it to the nest or hive where it is used as food by the col ...
, likely on henbit
File:blue2.JPG, Bees in April with blue Siberian squill pollen in pollen basket
The pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) is part of the tibia on the hind legs of the female of certain species of bees. They use the structure in harvesting pollen and carrying it to the nest or hive where it is used as food by the col ...
File:may red chestnut2.JPG, Honeybees in May with red (likely Horse chestnut) pollen in pollen basket
The pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) is part of the tibia on the hind legs of the female of certain species of bees. They use the structure in harvesting pollen and carrying it to the nest or hive where it is used as food by the col ...
File:Bee on dandelion.JPG, Dandelion
''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...
pollen
Flowers and annual crop plants – Spring
Summer
Trees and shrubs – Summer
Flowers and annual crop plants – Summer
Fall
Trees and shrubs – Fall
Flowers and annual crop plants – Fall
[Lamp, Thomas]
Bienennährpflanzen 1 : Gehölze
Nov 1999; accessed 05/2005
See also
*
Forage (honey bee)
*
List of honey plants
Honeybees often collect nectar, pollen, or both from the following species of plants, which are called honey plants, for making honey. This is not an exhaustive list of the flowering plant species Honeybees will visit.
Acanthace ...
*
Melliferous flower
*
Nectar source
A nectar source is a flowering plant that produces nectar (plant), nectar as part of its reproductive strategy. These plants create nectar, which attract pollinating insects and sometimes other animals such as birds.
Nectar source plants are imp ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollen Source
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