First Pollen!

It was the second week of March when we noticed the first pollen coming in to the hives. Hazel alder bushes in the swamp had opened the tiny blooms in their catkins. It's a wonderful early pollen source for the bees, who need pollen to begin the yearly "spring buildup," the population explosion that moves the hive from a small, dormant winter cluster to a bustling, tireless city of bees. When the queen begins to lay, pollen is needed to feed the coming brood. It's exciting and reassuring for the beekeeper to see the pollen coming in. The hive has survived the winter, and there is a strong promise of a healthy colony growing through the Spring.

Within days the henbit (right above) and purple false nettle (left above) were blooming, and the bees were bringing in my favorite pollen.

Favorite pollen? Yes! The photo left doesn't quite do it justice, but it is a lovely vermillion, and quite unique among the more common pollen colors which run the gamut of yellow to green.

In the picture to the right one of our ladies buries her head deep in a purple false nettle blossom. She'll emerge with a red smudge on her forehead, and groom the pollen from her body back in to her "corbiculae," or "pollen baskets."

Sometimes the loads the bees are able to ferry back to the hive are so large that we wonder how they can fly with them. But fly they do, tirelessly harvesting the new Spring bounty. Happy Spring!