Petal Pushers

May 13, 2011

Honey bees and daisies are made for each other.

The white petals and the golden centers seem incomplete without the presence of buzzing bees.

Today we watched a pollen-packin' honey bee, with a pollen load the color of autumn pumpkins, work a daisy. 

No matter that it was Friday the 13, supposedly an unlucky day. It was a lucky day for her as she foraged on the daisy and collected pollen her colony. The pollen will provide not only protein, but minerals and vitamins for the developing larvae.

Honey bee expert Norman Gary, emeritus professor of apiculture at the University of California, Davis and the author of Honey Bee Hobbyist: the Care and Keeping of Bees, says that during an entire year, "a typical bee colony gathers and consumes 77 pounds of pollen."

That's a lot of pollen! This little bee (below) did her part.