Grey pollen

[gavin]

Who is seeing significant amounts of deep grey pollen this year? I don't usually see much of it.

Three of my apiaries have a lot coming in. At the Royal Highland Show the free-flying observation hives were also packing in the grey stuff at the same time as waggling for a site about 1 km away to the south.

Grey pollen is likely field bean (aka faba bean). A farmer I was talking to at the RHS was saying that many farmers had switched from rape to beans as a rotation crop with cereals. He also thought that the greening measures would cause farmers to plant more beans in future.

[busybeephilip]

beans are supposed to be good for honey too

[gavin]

Watching that one carefully, though Murray said some years back that it doesn't yield in these parts.

[greengumbo]

Is raspberry a kind of grey as well ?

CSI pollen this weekend so will see what they bring in.

[chris]

I don't think so. The only really grey I see is savory,though lavender has a greyish tinge.

[fatshark]

Poppy … that's flowering well now and has grey pollen.
I've had field beans yield really well but think it can be hit and miss some years - no idea why.

[alancooper]

The main species that give grey pollen loads at this time of year are Policeman's helmet (Impatiens - an introduced species of waterways), grasses and Field beans.

[Jon]

Impatiens, aka Himalayan balsam is more white than grey.

[Poly Hive]

Found bees working brambles a couple of days ago with pollen baskets full of grey pollen.

My site has field beans every year and to date (and in the past too) to the best of my ken the bees get nothing from them. Mobus said that in Linconshire he had had a good crop then found it was actually honey dew from a massive aphid infestation which is unlikely these days given the spraying programs.

PH

[alancooper]

Field beans flower earlier than brambles. When the query on grey pollen was first made, brambles were probably not flowering in Scotland so I did not include it in my suggestion list of species giving grey pollen loads. Field beans probably were flowering. Flowering times and locality (eg., how far north and altitude) are relevant when assessing what might be in pollen loads - and the plants and vegetation in the bee foraging range. Also - bees can sometimes forage a range of plant species to give pollen loads with colour overlap.

[gavin]

Quite right Alan.

Field bean (=faba bean, broad bean) is deep grey and was in flower earlier. May still be in some places. This seem typical of the colour I was seeing. The colonies at the RHS were waggling for the same site carrying pollen and also not carrying pollen, which suggests that they were collecting both pollen and nectar.

http://www.brightonlewesbeekeepers.co.uk/?attachment_id=300

http://www.brightonlewesbeekeepers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/bee_beans_april28-2012_5s.jpg

Poppy is darker.

http://fairfieldscsa.ca/wp-content/gallery/gallery-2/18-honeybee-in-poppy-flower.jpg

http://fairfieldscsa.ca/wp-content/gallery/gallery-2/18-honeybee-in-poppy-flower.jpg

Bramble looks grey with a hint of brown about it. Not sure, I haven't looked at bees on flowers yet. It has been flowering here since earlier this week.

http://www.honeybeesuite.com/planting-for-honey-bees/

http://www.honeybeesuite.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bee-on-blackberry.gif

Yes, rasps look pale grey.

http://orig02.deviantart.net/26df/f/2015/104/f/5/honeybee_on_raspberry_by_cedarlili-d8pohyv.jpg


http://orig02.deviantart.net/26df/f/2015/104/f/5/honeybee_on_raspberry_by_cedarlili-d8pohyv.jpg

http://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/soft-fruit.html

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MJHxueOdSt8/T_5-EbSIc6I/AAAAAAAAFoU/-6zEPmOK9eI/s640/Honey+bee+raspberries.JPG