At 3:38 PM -0400 5/8/07, Brian Fredericksen wrote:

>I run a good sized apple orchard which is in full bloom today, 
>dandelions are at their peak of
>flowering too, temps in upper 70's. Yet our large oak trees are 
>humming today, covered with our
>honey bees. The trees are too tall to see if they are getting nectar 
>or pollen.


My understanding is that oaks, which are wind-pollinated, produce 
little or no nectar, because it is not in the plants' interest to do 
so. Nectar production is meant to attract pollinating insects, but 
oaks don't depend on insects for pollen transfer.

By the way, it is this mechanism of pollination by wind that's 
responsible for the tremendous amount of pollen produced and released 
by oaks, and which subsequently causes so much misery for certain 
allergy sufferers at this time of year.

I have actually never observed bees collecting pollen directly from 
oak flowers, but I'm glad to hear they do.

Anne
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Anne Brennan
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