Will bees stop collecting pollen if they have enough?

[Aroc]

 I?d like to think the bees are bringing in nectar. Not seeing a whole lot of pollen right now. Most hives I have inspected have a crap ton of pollen. Just curious if They will slow down pollen collection in favor of nectar.

[eltalia]

I?d like to think the bees are bringing in nectar. Not seeing a whole lot of pollen right now. Most hives I have inspected have a crap ton of pollen. Just curious if They will slow down pollen collection in favor of nectar.

Not in my experience, Aroc..if at all so then a pollinating business is doomed.

Bill

[edited for rogue schpel shagger brain fart!]

[BeeMaster2]

The field bees bring in what ever the nurse bees beg for. From my observation, they usually bring in pollen in the morning and evening. They do more nectar and water during the day.
Jim

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Bill, you are funny my man, your edit anyway.

Aroc, good, very good question, where do you come up with this stuff.

I know bees with favor one pollen over another, but like Master Jim texted, they will fill the needs of the hive.  I know the bees will keep making Honey non stop, add more frames and the bees will keep making more Honey.  The foragers will work themselves to death making Honey.
Blessings

[Acebird]

Will bees stop collecting pollen if they have enough?

I just broke out into full laughter.  Will humans stop collecting if they have enough?  No way in heck.  Every species has a hoarding gene.  There is a fine line between what is normal and what is a mental illness.

[eltalia]

"There is a fine line between what is normal and what is a mental illness."

Many an Internet contributor would question such profundity :grins:

Bill

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Yea Ace, Now just how did you mix a question of collecting pollen and answer it with mental illness.  Now I am wondering about you Ace.  You OK!!!   I don?t want to hear about Acezheimers.
Blessings

[Acebird]

Yea Ace, Now just how did you mix a question of collecting pollen and answer it with mental illness.

Once upon a time the cave man relied on hoarding for existence.  In today's world it is no longer necessary but it still exist pretty much in everyone of us.  The bees did not evolve as we did so their existence today still is dependent on hoarding.
I forget a lot of things these days but I haven't been diagnosed with Alzheimer's YET!

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

You do realize I just poking fun at you, hoping to make you laugh was my intent.  You have a good sense of humor.
Blessings

[Acebird]

You do realize I just poking fun at you,

Sometimes it is hard to tell when written words are the only thing you can go by.
In my last post I was just trying to make it clear why bees might still collect pollen when they have "enough".  Poking fun at me happens all the time.  Sometimes I don't even know it is happening.

[Aroc]

Not in my experience, Aroc..if at all so then a pollinating business is doomed.

Bill

[edited for rogue schpel shagger brain fart!]

Okay here?s another.  Do bees necessarily have to collect pollen in order to pollinate?  I figured just the act of messing around the flowers would be enough to pollinate.....???

[eltalia]

Not in my experience, Aroc..if at all so then a pollinating business is doomed.

Bill

[edited for rogue schpel shagger brain fart!]

Okay here?s another.  Do bees necessarily have to collect pollen in order to pollinate?  I figured just the act of messing around the flowers would be enough to pollinate.....???

Well, they don't do they. As far as a bee is concerned pollen is food.
It is the last sentence of your question which Nature has designed into
evolving propagation for plants. Something Man then turns into
money, real money... as in better returns than honeybadgering.

Bill

[Hops Brewster]

Define 'enough'.

[Michael Bush]

They seem to always collect SOME pollen but there are feedback mechanisms to collect more or less based on the amount of brood pheromone.
Here is one study on the feedback mechanism.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-009-0833-3

[beepro]

No, they will not stop collecting and storing them for later use.  Last year my bees still
have pollen (bee bread) until late Dec. which they collected all summer long.  There are 2 big garden nearby with plenty of pumpkins and squash blossoms for them.  It depends on what is available out there.  Certain plants/trees will produce pollen mostly but rarely any nectar.  And then there are the top 10 nectar producing plants with very little pollen.   So what is blooming in your area right now that produce more pollen than nectar?

My bees found a mustard patch somewhere out there that they collected almost 5 frames of pollen/nectar in the bottom box.  When that was not enough they stored some more in the upper honey boxes.  My intention was to collect honey not pollen this season.  So last night I corrected this issue, hopefully.  And Ace is right,  they do collect until no more cells space left.  Then it is swarming time!

[BeeMaster2]

Not in my experience, Aroc..if at all so then a pollinating business is doomed.

Bill

[edited for rogue schpel shagger brain fart!]

Okay here?s another.  Do bees necessarily have to collect pollen in order to pollinate?  I figured just the act of messing around the flowers would be enough to pollinate.....???

Aroc,
Bees are pollinating flowers when they are collecting nectar.  This is why the plants offer nectar to the bees. As the bees work to reach  into the depth of the flower they rub up against the Stamen and pistil.
Jim

[eltalia]

Not in my experience, Aroc..if at all so then a pollinating business is doomed.

Bill

[edited for rogue schpel shagger brain fart!]

Okay here?s another.  Do bees necessarily have to collect pollen in order to pollinate?  I figured just the act of messing around the flowers would be enough to pollinate.....???

Aroc,
Bees are pollinating flowers when they are collecting nectar.  This is why the plants offer nectar to the bees. As the bees work to reach  into the depth of the flower they rub up against the Stamen and pistil.
Jim

I'll add... simplified there are two modes.
Small bags and a bumpstop landing, the bee is a tanker.
Large bags and a crawl to the entrance the bee is a tarped down semi.

Bill

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

They seem to always collect SOME pollen but there are feedback mechanisms to collect more or less based on the amount of brood pheromone.
Here is one study on the feedback mechanism.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-009-0833-3

M.Bush you have a link for everything, kind of you to provide the links.  Now a little fun, since you seem to have so many, many links to all kinds of questions on Beemaster can you come up with a link to say er uh HONEY BEES IN THE NORTH POLE or ARTIC REGION.  Just joking, I appreciate your taking time to post so many links.
Blessings

[Acebird]

What blows my mind is how he remembers he has them and where to find them.  He certainly has a gift.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Yes Ace, Agreed, I?m impressed as well with MB links.  The man is quick to post a link, as you stated, MB remembers where the link is and post the link very quickly.  Almost as if MBush is waiting, watching for someone who is seeking info so he can post a link, a link on about any subject wether this century or earlier centuries.  The subject diversity of MBush links is so ernourmous: a link to everything, any time frame, any geographical region that has to do with mostly with bees, but not limited to.
Blessings

[Acebird]

Have you ever met him?  He looks and acts like a normal guy.  I have yet to sit around a campfire and sing kumby ya with him.  I can't sing Van.  Trust me, but I sound better with a couple of shots.

[eltalia]

Yes Ace, Agreed, I?m impressed as well with MB links.  The man is quick to post a link, as you stated, MB remembers where the link is and post the link very quickly.  Almost as if MBush is waiting, watching for someone who is seeking info so he can post a link, a link on about any subject wether this century or earlier centuries.  The subject diversity of MBush links is so ernourmous: a link to everything, any time frame, any geographical region that has to do with mostly with bees, but not limited to.
Blessings

It's an "author/writer" thing Van.. if Michael isn't using a complex
spreadsheet archive from the desktop then Mkchael certainly owns
one, in his head.
Some just wish, others do it.
I am in that first camp. :-)))

Bill