> I'll conclude from the lack of any "pollen packing" onto legs that the bees did not think they were gathering pollen.  That leaves nectar and water.

The nutritional requirements of honey bees, Apis mellifcra
L., are normally met by pollen, nectar, and water.
Bees may occasionally collect resinous material, but this
is for structural modification to the hive (Butler 1958).
There are, too, records of such curious materials as sawdust
and cement being collected (Butler, personal communication)
although these are of no obvious value.

[comment: I concur, there is "no obvious value" to the collection of sawdust]

During 1963 a study of allspice pollination was made
and honey bee collection of allspice pollen was observed.
While this work was in progress honey bees were seen
to visit allspice trees which bore no blossom but which
were infected with Puccinia psidii. The bees were working
the rust lesions, and examination of their loads revealed
that they consisted of pure samples of urediospores.
The colony for which the bees were collecting was located
about 200 yards from the infected trees. When the hive
was opened the comb showed conspicuous orange deposits
which were found to contain a high proportion of urediospores.

[comment: we have documented the collection of rust spores in previous discussions]

Chapman, G. P. (1964). Urediospore collections by honey bees from Puccinia psidii. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 57(2), 264-264.
             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html