Two tone bees

[GRIZZLY]

The girls are comeing in today looking as though they have been dusted in flour.Their thoraxes are covered in almost white pollen from the back of their heads to their abdomens.Some have pollen loads as well as pollen dusting.The pollen loads are also almost white.About 75% of the returning bees are like this.I can't identify what or where they are foraging -- Anyone got any ideas ???:confused:

[Jon]

Himalayan balsam.

[gavin]

Hi Grizzly

Very likely Himalayan balsam. A great pollen and nectar plant which can fill a super or two in the right conditions. Some regard it as a bit of a thug.

http://www.bourneconservation.org.uk/himalayan%20balsam.htm

G.

OK, he beat me to it!

[GRIZZLY]

The plot thickens 'cos as far as I know the nearest Himalayan Balsam is about 16 miles away by road or 10 miles as the bees fly.They must have located a new source much closer to home.They are most certainly going for it at a prodigeous rate.Must get into the car and have a "looksee" tomorrow as the rain forecast for tomorrow should have gone past by 4.30 a.m.

[gavin]

I once watched a field of OSR from which honeybees exited in numbers when a dark cloud appeared and flew in the direction of an apiary 10 km away. 10 miles is a bit far though.

Can you get a bearing for the laden bees coming home, or the empty ones speeding away? HB usually grows on streamsides and drainage ditch edges, so maybe you can guess where to look?

I've had mine go for HB a few years ago but nothing since. I think that if conditions are right they'll fly far, but not every year.

Eric gets a HB crop from one of his apiaries.

[GRIZZLY]

They're flying on a south/north heading which takes them along the length of the Rhins so I guess there must be some tucked away alonside some burn .A 4mile radius takes me as far as Portpatric.Its possible some grows near Dunsky,as I said I,ll have to explore and find out.

[HensandBees]

of course what you ought to do is go and look at the waggle dance and get a bearing and distance and there is will be!!!! ( or not_

[gavin]

Excellent suggestion! Of course, the distance part is the one that is hard to interpret, but with my bees 'near', 'middling' and 'far' is easy enough.

[HensandBees]

I have to confess I have nt tried it myself . ..... I think my bees are working the rose bay willowherb .. you have to fight your way through it to get to the hives and the flowers are alive with all sorts of pollinators including honey bees .... so thats the round dance! if they are doing anything else I better check out the heather moors !

[gavin]

Nicked from a photo-sharing site, some images to show how the white stripe happens (in a bumble bee, a honey bee and a wasp).

314
315
316

[GRIZZLY]

Thanks Gavin,the photos give me a good explanation of what goes on.Still haven't found the source but must be a good patch judging by the great number of coated bees.

[Jon]

Thanks Gavin,the photos give me a good explanation of what goes on.Still haven't found the source but must be a good patch judging by the great number of coated bees.

I just came across this great little searchable plant database.
This is the entry for Balsam.

http://www.habitas.org.uk/flora/species.asp?item=3189

[GRIZZLY]

Great site Jon,Pity it doesn't extend about 30 miles eastward to include the Rhins just across the water from you in Scotland.

[gavin]

If folk are interested in distribution maps of any UK plant or animal you can do no better than this site:

http://data.nbn.org.uk/

For example the UK distribution of Impatiens glandulifera (which seems to have changed from Himalayan to Indian balsam)

http://data.nbn.org.uk/gridMap/gridMap.jsp?allDs=1&srchSpKey=NBNSYS0000003189

[Stromnessbees]

There was a demonstration on how to check the distance indicated by the waggle dance on Countryfile last Sunday:

see iplayer, scroll to 17:25
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00thrdj/Countryfile_15_08_2010/

What annoyed me a bit was the fact that they made out that this was brand new research by Prof. Ratneik, when actually it was all discovered a long time ago by fellow Austrian Karl von Frisch:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_von_Frisch

Still, the message to look after the bees and the wildflowers was allright.

Doris

[GRIZZLY]

I guess that the bees must have a "wash and brushup"dept working in the hive.The bees enter completely covered with pollen but leave again all spruced up.I guess the bees must groom each other pretty frequently inside the hive.The balsam must still be yielding heavily judging by the numbers of coated bees.My black bees don't seem to have found it yet tho' although they are also pouring in and out of the hive so must have some other forage crop.

[gavin]

of course what you ought to do is go and look at the waggle dance and get a bearing and distance and there is will be!!!! ( or not_

Well, I've done just that. You can read about it in my blog (http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/blog.php?b=86).