Category Archives: First Pollen

First Pollen of 2021

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This is probably the first natural pollen my bees have foraged on this year. The crocuses popped up through the snow around March 21st — a month ago — but the weather has been mostly rain, drizzle and fog since then. People saw the sun today for the first time in weeks and freaked out because it was such a weird thing to see.

Other beekeepers on the island reported seeing their bees bring in loads of pollen a couple weeks ago. But that didn’t happen where I live. A great reminder of a beekeeper’s #1 lesson: All beekeeping is local beekeeping.

First Pollen of 2016

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I post this for my own records. I saw some of my bees with a sprinkle of yellow pollen on their legs yesterday and today I managed to snap off this blurry photo of a honey bee with what I’d call a good load of pollen.

First pollen of the year in Flatrock, Newfoundland, and it's yellow. (April 17, 2016.)

First pollen of the year in Flatrock, Newfoundland, and it’s yellow. (April 17, 2016.)

It seems too early for dandelions or any other naturally yellow flower, so I’m guessing someone has some crocuses planted nearby. Good enough. Spring in Newfoundland hasn’t quite sprung yet, but we’re getting there.

First pollen on the year. Bee resting on old sugar cake. (April 17, 2016.)

First pollen on the year. Bee resting on old sugar cake. (April 17, 2016.)

The pollen could also bee from coltsfoot, a.k.a. Tussilago, though I haven’t seen any around. It could pollen from pussy willows too. I’ll have to look around when I have a chance.

April 24th, 2016: A week later the bees were bringing in more of the same pollen.

Seeing how there was snow on the ground, my guess is the pollen had to come from a bush or tree, not a ground level plant like crocuses.