Download Nectar and Pollen Providing Plants for Honey Bees (PowerPoint

Nectar and Pollen
Providing Plants
for Honey Bees
Terra Freeman, Small Farms and
Alternative Enterprise Extension Agent,
UF / IFAS Duval County Extension
Honey bee’s basic nutritional needs:
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Proteins (amino acids)
Carbohydrates (sugars)
Minerals
Fats / lipids (fatty acids)
Vitamins
Water
To meet these needs, bees collect and
consume:
• Nectar (honey)
• Pollen (bee bread)
• Water
Nectar
Bees convert nectar to
honey, which serves as
primary source of
carbohydrates for bees.
Provides energy for:
• Flight
• Colony maintenance
• General daily activities
Credit: Honey Bee Research
and Extension Laboratory, UF.
Also provides minerals:
• Calcium
• Copper
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Sodium
Pollen
Worker bee carrying pollen in
her pollen baskets.
Pollen Composition:
water (7%-16%);
crude protein (6%-30%);
ether extract (1%-14%);
carbs including reducing sugars (19%41%), non-reducing sugars (0%-9%),
starch (0%-11%)
lipids (5%)
ash (1%-6%)
unknown (22%-36%).
Pollen (bee bread) is honey bee’s
main source of protein. Also
provides fats / lipids, minerals, and
vitamins.
This protein is vital to brood
production and development of
young bees.
Pollen that has been collected from
a pollen trap placed on the bottom
board of a bee hive.
Credit: Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab, UF
Bee’s Perspective:
• Does the flower have
attractive color patterns
and aromas?
• Can the pollen be readily
released from the anther?
• Is the protein content in
the pollen high enough to
meet nutritional needs?
• Is there a nectar reward
hidden in the flower?
Anatomical diagram of a flower.
Extrafloral Nectaries
Ensuring Colony Nutrition
• Make sure plants in the area actually
provide pollen and nectar.
• Pollen quality is more important than
quantity.
• Variety, Variety, Variety!!!
Factors:
• Many plants produce pollen for bees, but nectar
producing species are of most interest to
beekeepers as few plants are capable of
secreting the vast amount of nectar required by
honey bees to produce a honey crop
• Large tracts of plants are necessary to produce
a good honey crop
• Proximity of colonies to plants is important
• Most beekeepers move colonies 2 to 3 times
during the nectar-producing season.
Plant Location
Conditions affecting plants
vary from year to year, and
from place to place:
• Soil
• pH
• Moisture Conditions
Bees dance to communicate
with each other the best place to
go each hour of the day!
Protecting Bees from Pesticides
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Most pesticides are non-specific. They kill both the pest
species and any insect visiting the plant when it is still wet.
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Communicate with nearby farmers and mosquito control so
you can be notified before pesticide applications
Major Land Resource Areas
Plants that produce named honey:
Intense collection in short intervals
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Citrus (Citrus spp.)
Gallberry (Ilex glabra)
Clovers- several (Trifolium spp.)
Palmettos (Serenoa, Sabal spp.)
Ogeechee Tupelo (Nyssa ogeche)
Black Gum Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica v. biflora)
Sour Gum Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica v. sylvatica)
Citrus spp..
Bloom period: Feb. to April
Gallberry (Ilex glabra)
Bloom period: March to May
Crimson Clover
Red Clover ???
Sweet Clover
White Clover
Dwarf Palmetto
(Sabal minor)
Saw Palmetto
(Serenoa repens)
Scrub Palmetto
(Sabal etonia)
Cabbage Palmetto
(Sabal palmetto)
Black Gum Tupelo
(Nyssa sylvatica v. biflora):
Bloom period: April to May
Sour Gum Tupelo
(Nyssa sylvatica v. sylvatica):
Bloom period: April to May
Ogeechee Tupelo
(Nyssa ogeche):
Blooms April to May
Other possible named
honey plants:
Willows (Salix spp.)
Spanish Needles (Bidens spp.)
Goldenrods (Solidago)
Asters (Aster spp.)
Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans)
Carolina Willow (Salix caroliniana)
Bloom period:
March to April
Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
Bloom period:
Aug. to Nov
Aster laevis
Bloom period: Fall
Bloom period:
June to Mid- July
Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans)
Wildflower Honey Plants: Colony
Maintenance Plants
Tickseeds (Coreopsis spp.)
Narrow – leaf or Swamp Sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius)
Blanketflower (Gaillardia pulchella)
Blackeyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Primrose Willows (Ludwigia spp.)
Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum spp.)
Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
Giant Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea)
Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Powderpuff (Mimosa stigillosa)
Drummond Phlox (Phlox drummondii)
Ampelopsis arboreas (Pepper Vine)
Blanketflower
(Gaillardia pulchella)
Bloom period: May to Oct.
Swamp Sunflower
(Helianthus angustifolius)
Bloom period:
Sept. to Oct.
Photo credit: Mary Derrick, UF/IFAS Extension
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
(Coreopsis lanceolata)
Bloom: June to Oct.
Adult Halictus poeyi Lepeletier, a sweat bee, gathering
pollen on Coreopsis lanceolata. Photo by Katie Buckley, UF
Giant Ironweed: Vernonia gigantea
Bloom: June to Oct.
Black-eyed Susan
(Rudbeckia hirta)
Bloom: May to Oct.
St.St.
John’s
Wort
(Hypericum
spp.)
John’s
Wort
(Hypericum
spp.)
Blooms in Summer
Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Bloom: July to Sept.
Powderpuff (Mimosa strigillosa)
Blooms Spring to Fall
Drummond Phlox (Phlox drummondii)
Blooms March to June
Pepper Vine
(Ampelopsis arboreas)
Blooms spring
and early summer
Can be aggressive
Partridge Pea; Cassia
(Chamaecrista) fasciculata
Blooms
June to Sept.
Creeping Charlie (Phylla nodiflora)
Blooms Year Round
Wildflower Honey
Trees and Shrubs
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Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Hollies (Ilex spp.)
Fetterbush (Lyonia lucida)
Blackberry (Rubus flagellaris)
Gopher Apple (Licania michauxii)
Red Maple
(Acer rubrum)
Blooms Jan. to Feb.
Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Blooms mid- Jan.
to mid- March
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida))
Blooms in Spring
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria)
Hollies bloom
from March to May
Fetterbush (Lyonia lucida)
Blooms Feb. to April
Photo credit: Mary Keim
Blackberry (Rubus flagellaris)
Blooms Mid- Feb.
to March
Gopher apple, ground oak
(Licania michauxii)
Blooms May to June
Considered weeds by some,
but loved by honey bees:
Spanish Needles (Bidens alba)
Thistles (Cirsium spp.)
Mexican Clovers/ Pusley (Richardia spp.)
Dog Fennel (Eupatorium capillifolium)
Spanish Needles (Bidens alba)
Bloom period: Late Summer/ Year round
Largeflower Pusley
(Richardia grandiflora)
Florida Pusley or
Rough Mexican Clover,
(Richardia scabra)
Pusley’s bloom
year- round
Tropical Mexican Clover or Brazil
Pusley, Richardia brasiliensis.
Dogfennel
(Eupatorium capillifolium)
Blooms Summer to Fall
Brazilian Pepper
(Schinus terebinthifolious)
Blooms period: Aug. to Oct
Invasive!
Plants that are
toxic to bees
Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium
sempervirens) is suspected of
killing or injuring Queen cells.
Ti ti or Leatherwood
(Cyrilla racemifolia)
causes ‘Purple Brood’
(pollen and brood is
purplish)
References:
Flowers Which Sustain our Bees, PPT, by Raymond Zerba,
Clay County Extension UF/IFAS
ENY152/IN868: The Benefits of Pollen to Honey Bees
ENY-134/AA264: Florida’s Climate and It’s Beekeeping
ENY156: Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar