Dandelion Lovers - Saying Hi To The Pollen Flow



Lately I have been strolling through the little piece of garden we have.

We try to keep it bee and insect-friendly, meaning no mowing the lawn, cleaning up or spraying insecticides.

We have also sown insect-friendly flower mixes.

It's a bit of a surprise egg because we don't know exactly which plants will make it and what will sprout over the year.

Part of it is already starting to bloom and the dandelion is currently the main actor.

All kinds of insects are feeding on them, mainly bees.




The dandelion blooms from April to June and is a very rich source of pollen and nectar during this time.

Spring has a great impact on the development of bee colonies, because it is precisely around these three months that the queen bee is particularly active.

Rich food for the brood in the colony is needed so that the colony can become strong.




But there are more insects hanging out on the dandelion.

The bumblebee is collecting pollen as well.

Little spoiler alert: Did you know that each bumblebee has a favorite flower?

Jerry Cole of the Bird Population Institute at Point Reyes Station reports in Environmental Entomology how they counted bumblebees on various flowers in 413 areas in the Sierra Nevada.

It turned out that the bumblebees all harvested several plant species, but each of the 13 bumblebee species had at least one private favorite flower that only they and no other species flew at.

They recommend sowing these flowering plants in a targeted manner in order to keep the populations of the most important pollinators stable.




But not only bees and bumblebees like the dandelion.

Raspberry beetles live on them as well.

It is a wide spread beetle in North-Central Europe and said to be a pest.

They eat up the pollen.





Well, that was my todays little stroll through parts of the garden.

I love taking pics of insects as they need to get more attention.

We are entering a critical stage in the extinction of many insects due to commercial agriculture and big companies making big money with insecticides.

Also the behavior of people and how they approach gardening plays an important role in saving bees and insects.



Cool pics hu?

You can find more here.
Bumblebee
Honeybees
Insects

And here you find some infos about the Black Bee of Sicily. I recently watched a documentary about them or rather about their savior.

See ya soon!



©bulldog-joy


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Vanilla is the only plant not pollinated by nature or insect or something and has to be done by human hands. I didn't know that either til a few years ago, explains why vanilla is so expensive. Totally explains the price of maple syrup, by the way, which also has nothing to do bees but I'm hoping you find this comment useful.

§.•´¨'°÷•..× Ⓑžzž𝐙Ⓩ𝔃ⓩ𝔷... ×,.•´¨'°÷•..§

Ahhh all your comments are useful ;) just like mine lol. Have to look into Vanilla now. Have a question, was there first the vanilla or the human?" 🤔

I can't answer that question, @bulldog-joy, sincerest apologies. I can only tell you the part the 91 year old man taught me who owned the island accessible only by boat where he and his wife grew a botanical garden for several decades just outside Golfito Bay in Costa Rica. Vanilla Shmanilla.. I had no idea....

Truly we went there to appreciate flowers, all the fruits and vegetables like an acre of pineapple, for example. Wild life, the boat ride itself, of course! Not one time before, during, or after had I anticipated being intrigued by vanilla more than anything else that I talk about it like this.

He got me pollinating vanilla with him while the ladies took off appreciating all the flowers and wild life. I never turn down an opportunity to chill with old people, especially that old. Only reason I don't know which came first, vanilla or human, is because when I'm with someone old like that I'm two ears and one mouth.

:zip: I didn't ask. 💖

Lol, understand...but you should have asked, old people often like a good portion of humor ;).

Interesting story nonetheless :)

Cool pics for sure! I learned a bunch of cool stuff to 😁

Do you eat dandelions? They make wine and salads and such around here. The dandelion festival is coming up real soon too.

Yah I do, once in a while 😄, I just wanted to leave them for the insects as of now 😇. I am going to pick up some stuff tomorrow or so and present my front-door-with-no-money-but-super-healthy-salad lol. You gotta go to that awesome festival just because I would if I could 😁.

 3 years ago (edited) 

Thanks alot for posting in The Pollen Flow. Those are some great pictures of bumble bees, beatles and honey bees feeding on dandelions. Those little plants really help out pollenators during the early spring.

I had no idea bees had their favorite flower.

Great post

Thanks, neither did I lol. At least the bumblebees in the Sierra Nevada have theirs lol 😄

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