what's blooming?

[sweetannie245]

I took advantage of the warm weather this week to check the girls. I saw several bees in each of 5 hives bringing in loads of light greenish-yellow pollen. Does anyone have a suggestion on what might be blooming here in piedmont NC at this time of year? My husband and I are stumped. One hive needs feed right now, but the others are fine. Everyone had some brood, but the hive with a NWC queen has 1/2 frame(both sides) of capped brood!

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Christina Teague
Bennett, NC

[hoosierhiver]

not real familiar with your area,but i might guess witchhazel,i've seen it blooming in december.

[db_land]

I'm in the Raleigh, NC area and my bees are also bringing in pollen. I know there are some camelias and pansies blooming and maybe other plants (for example some rhododendrums have been tricked into blooming because of the warm weather). Around my home apiary (in a subdivision) people try to have something blooming all the time. The bees in the out apiaries are also bringing in a greenish-yellow pollen. My guess is this pollen comes from pansies, etc found at homes within the 2-mile foraging radius.

[piroqueman]

I also think that collard greens or polk salad could be where they are getting the pollen from. I am in northeatern lousiana and the bees here are bringing in pollen by the loads. There is a garden of greens down the road. I bet that is where they are getting it from here. Do you have any greens around?

[sweetannie245]

There could be. We're in a very rural part of a farming county, so there are small salad patches scattered all around us. It may also be witchazel, as my father-in-law has a couple hundred acres that's over 70% forested.

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Christina Teague
Bennett, NC