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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:34:35 -0400
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"Jerry Bromenshank asked for video evidence of bees collecting
field corn  pollen or guttation fluid. I did not observe bees 
collecting
guttation  fluid,"

You may need to get up early!  Beowulf Cooper, on page 22 of The 
Honeybees of the British Isles, wrote concerning the behavioural 
characteristics of the British Black bee (Apis mellifera mellifera" 
6.NON COLLECTION OF DEW AT DAWN. Bees can drink from puddle margins or 
dewdrops at considerably lower temperatures than they can forage for 
nectar or pollen. Strains of bee from sunnier climates than ours get 
busy very early on a summer morning gathering dew, well before sunrise. 
This behaviour is presumably related to conditions in their country of 
origin where water for cooling the hive as well as for brood rearing is 
likely to evaporate quickly as the sun rises and as the daytime wind 
rise.  Our climate does not require such a habit and our native bees 
therefore tend to star their water gathering later in the day, 
preferring nectar to water where it can be had......"

So if your bees are not Amm and there are no other water sources 
available in maize (corn) growing areas they might take advantage of 
guttation fluid for that purpose.

Chris








          

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