“Air Freight!” By Annie Watson
For the past two days the bees have been coming in absolutely loaded down with bright yellow willow pollen and grey red maple pollen. I wonder how they can even get airborne, the pollen baskets on their back legs are so encumbered with huge blobs of the stuff. It’s funny to watch them as they arrive on the landing board and waddle into the entrance with their booty.
The worker in this photo graced my shirt with her presence for a few moments before she took off for the hive entrance to deliver her load.
Pollen is as important as nectar for the honeybee family, because the protein and other nutrients it contains feed developing larvae. The honeybee colony must produce as many new bees as possible in order to have workers to gather nectar to make enough honey for next winter. Without pollen — no honey. This is the time of year when, in a strong colony, the population is exploding.