[NatureNS] BEES finding Wild Flowers blooming now with very WHITE POLLEN?

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Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 20:33:14 -0300
From: Burkhard Plache <burkhardplache@gmail.com>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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down in my wanderings and it may be a woodland flower as some are heading b
I checked with a bee-keeper.
He suggested Japanese Knotweed as the source of the white pollen.
- Burkhard

On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 5:41 PM, Ian <ian@amimckay.com> wrote:
> Thank you all for your quick and helpful replies. I will go for hike
> tomorrow and see if a wet area that was sadly clearcut this winter may have
> Turtleheads. It does seem the most likely culprit at present. If I find
> them, and the bees, I will let you know.
>
> Sent from my iPod
>
> On 2014-09-02, at 14:00, Rick Ballard <ideaphore@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Here is a quote from the web mentioning that the Turtlehead flower does
> deposit its pollen on the back of a bee.
>
> "Bumblebees collect both nectar and pollen, but there would be little
> advantage to the plants to have pollen collected and fed to the bee's
> larvae, so the turtlehead has found a way to protect its pollen. The
> anthers, which hold the pollen, and the stigma, which receives it, are
> hidden under the upper lip of the flower. The bee can only enter the flower
> by forcing its head and body into the mouth of the flower while holding on
> to the flowers' lower lip. It cannot reach the anthers with its front legs
> in that position, they are behind it, so the bee cannot collect the pollen.
> The bee can drink the nectar from the base of the flower, though. As it
> forces its way down into the flower, the anthers rub against its velvety
> back and the pollen grains are caught. If the flower has already shed its
> pollen, the anthers pull back and the stigma becomes receptive. If the next
> foraging bee has some pollen on its back, the pollen sticks onto the stigma
> and begins to germinate."
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 1:37 PM, Rick Ballard <ideaphore@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 12:21 PM, Ian McKay <ian@amimckay.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> We keep a few hives here in Scots Bay. Over the past week or so the bees
>>> have been returning with a very WHITE POLLEN. They are covered in it with a
>>> pronounced streak down their backs. This leads me to think that they are
>>> crawling into a tubular blossom of some sort. I haven't been able to track
>>> it down in my wanderings and it may be a woodland flower as some are heading
>>> back into the woods. Any ideas as to what it could be, blooming Late
>>> August/Early Sept?
>>
>>
>> Turtleheads ! Certainly in bloom now.
>>
>> " This unique flower shape has evolved to suit the plant's pollinators,
>> primarily large bees. The lower "lip" of the flower acts as a landing pad
>> for the bees, while the upper hood of the flower not only guards the nectar
>> from unsuitable pollinators, but also helps deliver pollen to the bees'
>> fuzzy bodies as they push apart the petals in search of nectar. "
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Rick Ballard
>> Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada
>
>
>
>
> --
> Rick Ballard
> Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada

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