> One of the plants my wife grows is St Johns wort.  When it is in bloom there is close to one honey bee per open flower from early morning until evening.  So many bees that most have hardly any pollen in their baskets.  This flower has no odor I can detect.  As far as I can tell it yields no nectar.  Yet, the bees go nuts over the stuff.  It is not because they are pollen starved.  We have lots of things in bloom and I see a variety of pollen coming into the hives based on different colors.

So, once again, I'll come from another angle and note that St. John's wort is a medicinal herb that has been shown (albeit inconsistently) to have antidepressant effects (impedes serotonin reuptake). It may be this effect that draws the bees to the plant, rather than any nutritional need.

Dr. Feelgood is in the house.

S

Skillman, NJ

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