In a message dated 6/24/00 4:51:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Walnuts are known as "wind"
>  pollinators, and it is customary to intersperse pollinators of another
>  variety throughout the plantation.
>
>  I have been unable to find any definitive statement on whether honey bees
>  can have any place in the pollination of walnuts or whether walnut trees
>  provide any pollen or nectar to bees.
>
>  Any information or reference to relevant research on the matter would be
>  appreciated.

Paul,

    No plant can pollinate another plant; pollinators are the agents that
carry pollen, such as bees.  To pollinate, means to transport pollen from the
anthers to the stigma, to acheive fertilization of the ovules. The varieties
you plant for pollen sources are pollenizers, not pollinators, and they
pollenize other plants. To pollenize, means to supply viable pollen at the
appropriate time. It sounds like you've been steered wrong on the basics of
pollination, by a nursery that should have known better.

    In my observations of nut trees (mostly pecans and hickories) I have not
seen any evidence that bees aid in pollen transfer. The pollen is very light
and fluffy and is produced in large quantities. I suspect that it has little
nor no nutritional value, so bees would have no incentive to gather it unless
they were desperate.

    I did a quick look around thru my sources, and find nothing on walnuts.
If there were some info that bees were helpful, I think I'd have a reference.
 The only reference I could find was in McGregor, who noted that walnut
pollen is gathered and used for artificial pollination (no mention of bees).

    You might want to check with one of the pollen vendors, referenced in the
web page below.

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com