Hello David & All,

David said:
When grain amaranths are in flower, honey bees actively crawl through the
flowers and seem to poke into the flowers.  I am uncertain about what they
are doing, and I have asked experts.

As a non beekeeper you might wonder. I could tell you quickly what the bees
are doing and will most likely be  able to after the coming season
In order to learn better could you give me an idea of the time of day you
observed the  most activity? The time of the year and your location in Iowa?

If the bees were "actively crawling through the flowers" they were in my
opinion gathering either nectar or pollen.

David said:
In published descriptions amaranths are wind pollinated.

Makes no differnce to bees needing pollen for brood. Corn is wind pollinated
and bees gather plenty of corn pollen.

David said:
There is a photo of amaranth honey and a research report saying that the
seeds are larger after bee pollination in: S. Yue (ed.), 1993. The research
and development of grain amaranth in China. Inst. of Crop Breeding and
Cultivation, Chinese Acad. Agr. Sciences, Beijing.

If I catch the bees working the amaranth I should be able to tell what the
bees are getting. If not pollen then has to be nectar.

David said:
It would be a benefit to science if someone can publish good evidence for
amaranth honey.  If you get evidence, please let me know and I will help you
to publish it in a small journal.

To explain further. I posted the inquiry as amaranth has never been brought
up to me before and is not listed in any of my honey plants books except for
the following from pg.91 of "American Honey Plants' by Frank Pellett.

"A few days ago I happened to be in a patch of Careless weed (Amaranthus)
soon  after daybreak and found the bees swarming in great numbers around the
fresh bloom of the plant. I watched them *carefully* and found that they
gather large quantities of pollen quite readily,but in no case was I able to
find them even attempting to gather nectar. The pollen seems somewhat
powdery and easily shaken from the plant. It is a distinct greenish yellow
color."

 Claims of amaranthus honey in China remains a puzzle. I did not look
through all the internet information as suggested by Yoon but saw no
reference to honey in the information I looked at .
I believe we can safely conclude bees get pollen from amaranth and need to
research further on the nectar issue. Thanks for joining in David!
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::