Comments on: Top 10 Ways to Attract Bees & Butterflies to Your Yard https://organicforecast.org/2015/05/557/ Wed, 08 Aug 2018 15:16:47 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.15 By: organicforecast https://organicforecast.org/2015/05/557/#comment-104 Fri, 10 Jul 2015 17:39:55 +0000 https://organicforecast.org/?p=557#comment-104 Alex-
I consulted with the expert, Dr. Jim Cain from the USDA-ARS Bee Biology and Systematics Lab in Logan. Jim pointed me toward a couple of publications he completed with a colleague.

Roulston, T, J. H. Cane and S. L. Buchmann. 2000. What governs protein content of pollen: Pollinator preferences, pollen-pistil interactions, or phylogeny? Ecological Monographs 70(4):617-643.

Roulston, T, and J. H. Cane. 2000. Pollen nutritional content and digestibility for animals. Plant System. and Evol.. 222: 187-209.

He also made the following comment:
“Insect-pollinated plants are underrepresented because it takes an 1/8 tsp of pure pollen (or so) for the protein assay. If you start trying to manually collect that from most any legume flower, you will quickly see that it is an onerous job! Honey bee pollen pellets would be great, except that their dry weight can include up to 30% nectar sugars, so % protein estimates from them are up to 30% off. The easiest approach is to watch what bees choose to use and provide more! Most legumes are a sure bet.”

Hopefully this helps with your studies and I appreciate your interest, and Jim’s expertise, in this comment posting – good luck!

]]> By: Alex Grover https://organicforecast.org/2015/05/557/#comment-81 Tue, 23 Jun 2015 15:29:53 +0000 https://organicforecast.org/?p=557#comment-81 I only know of a handful of studies for the pollen quality of native Utah plants. Pollen quality in general is a very poorly studied part of bee health.

If you know of any research on this subject that would help my own studies into providing healthy pollen for honeybees I would very much apreciate good references.

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