> Hi Everyone; > > I'm in a strange situation here in central Indiana. The weather here has > been up and down all winter with serious stress to all plants and other > living creatures. Last weekend spring finally hit and I watched my 2 > hives carefully sure that I would see the wonderful sight of bees heavily > laden with pollen coming in for percarious landings. I was wrong - not > more than 10% were coming in with any visible pollen and no heavy loads. > Two other local bee hobbies saw the same thing. > > What I think has happened is that the maples around here were just about > to burst forth in flower just as the last cold snap hit (20 degress at > night) and this appears to have done in most of the maple pollen. I have > maple flowers falling all over today and still no great pollen rush for > the bees. > > Can anyone tell me how serious this lost of an important early pollen > sourec will be and what plant/tree should be next in line as a spring > pollen soure? > > Thanks > > Lisa K. > Zionsville IN >