"Indiscriminant pollination" refers to the apparent honey bee willingness to
visit non-native and invasive bloom species. This generates stronger
invasive stock, already sadly dominating some landscapes with Honeysuckle
vine and bush, Porcelain Berry, Autumn Olive, Russian Olive, Purple
Loosestrife and others.  Probably most beekeepers are unaware of this issue.

 

Native bees are less inclined to do this because native bees evolved with
native plants. Native bees come in different sizes and different tongue
lengths which helps determine the forage fitting. Interestingly, some native
bees are actually specialists, feeding on a select genera of plant. 

 

We are creating a study region of multiple standardized pollinator gardens
near Wilmington De. where we will be monitoring all bee populations,
hopefully over the next decade. The area is heavily populated with honey bee
colonies. Our problem in this citizen science quest is to find an island or
peninsula without bee yards. 

 

 

DC,  Centreville Delaware


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