Honey Bee and the Buckeye Blossom

Honey bees are drawn to the Buckeye , which is just finishing its bloom, and yet, the pollen is toxic to the bee. The bees take the pollen back to the hive and feed it to the developing bees. The result is wingless bees: if too many are wingless, they cannot forage, and the hive… Read more »

Native Pollinators and What’s Blooming

Her earliest leaf’s a flower, but only so an hour. (Frost)Opening bud of a native buckeye tree, whose later blooms arepoisonous to honey bees. Many years ago I assisted my ecology/botany sister in her research on native prairie restoration in the Midwest. My job that day was to sit in a square yard of space… Read more »