> Honey bees have been recorded gathering sawdust, coal dust, flour, cellulose powder and other finely divided materials when in need of pollen (Parker 1926, Schmazel 1980). ... Hives are placed near cotton fields with many hectares of the crop within a 400 m radius of the apiaries. Yet honey bees rarely collect pollen in cotton flowers.

> Our results demonstrate that honey bees do not gather all pollen taxa with the same efficiency even when pollen presentation and initial availability are held constant. Indeed, honey bees were unable to pack large pollen grains with long spines such as those of Abelmoschus. Therefore, in addition to the points listed by Percival (1947), collection of a pollen taxon by honey bees is also dependent upon the efficiency with which foragers can harvest this pollen.

Vaissière, B. E., & Vinson, S. B. (1994). Pollen morphology and its effect on pollen collection by honey bees, Apis Mellifera L.(Hymenoptera: Apidae), with special Reference to Upland Cotton, Gossypium Hirsutum L.(Malvaceae). Grana, 33(3), 128-138.

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