>There have been a number of posting concerning bees and seeds and it seems
>that because several people have found seeds on bottom boards or at hive
>entrances,   it seems logical to conclude that bees carry seeds. In any
>earlier note I claimed that bees were not structurally adapted to carry
>seeds but this is just an assertion based the morphology of the legs and 35
>years of observing bees. It could be I've missed something. What we need is
>evidence - real observations of bees carrying seeds or even indirect
>evidence, say from pollen traps. If bees carry seeds, we should be able to
>get this on video, and even if we can't catch them in the act, the seeds
>should be scrapped off into the collection box on a good pollen trap - one
>which is sound enough to exclude mice. Can't say I've found seeds in pollen
>traps (N=50) I've run in the spring myself. Has anyone else?
 
I do not know whether the bees can carry seeds, however, I would note that
most of the people posting to this thread have noted that this is a depraved
behaviour only seen when pollen sources are not available and the bees are
craving pollen. I think it is unlikely that you have pollen traps in place
before pollen is available (correct me if I am wrong) and this might explain
the absence of seeds.
 
I will note that I feed pollen substitute as a powder outside before I make
up the pollen substitute candy that I feed on the top bars. Sometimes there
are small lumps of soy flour or granules of milk powder that escaped being
powdered or pollen pellets if I have added them.  The bees are quite comical
trying to deal with these.  They cannot use normal combing behaviour but
they do seem to be  rolling around working them with their legs and trying
to stuff them into their pollen baskets.  I cannot actually say that I have
seen them being successful in this, and the granules left over when the
powder is gone would lead one to believe that not too many are successful,
but they do seem to be attempting a behaviour which could conceivably lead
to stuffing something the right size in their corbiculae.  It would be a
good observation project for one of your entomology students.  Milk powder
granules are highly attractive in early spring, and have sufficient
roughness for the bees to handle them easily.
                                                        Stan