Ana Maria Quinones wrote:
 
>I did have problems working with Apis mellifera, because they were
>submissed to stress conditions. They were confined into a small
>space (1.5 meters width, 2 meters length and 2 meters high),  with no
>way for getting out.  I fed them only with sugar solution, so they
>were forced to search for pollen, encouraging them to pollinate my
>Oxalis flowers. At first I reached excellent results, obtaining a
>high amount of sexual seed, but then my bees stoped pollinating
>and died.  I think the main problem I have is weather, ....
 
Maybe other folks on the list can correct me, but aren't Apis intolerant of
oxalic acid? I recall that larvae die when fed pollen containing things
like calcium oxalate (such as _Heliconia_ pollen). Seems like Oxalis is
fairly likely to have some nasty oxalates in either its pollen or nectar,
no? If so, maybe this is a case where knowledge of the native pollinators
of the plant may be essential for success.
 
Doug Yanega       Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA      phone (217) 244-6817, fax (217) 333-4949
 affiliate, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Dept. of Entomology
          http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu:80/~dyanega/my_home.html
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82