red pollen

[kenr]

Does anybody have any idea what this could be alot of my bees was carring it in today.

[JRG13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source

not a bad link for pollen colors.

[ralph3]

Does anybody have any idea what this could be alot of my bees was carring it in today.

I had to do some diggin the other day to figure it out too. The tan/greenish pollen is red maple. The fire engine red pollen is dead nettle. Then every now and then I have seen some fiery orange pollen. Don't know what that is. That red pollen is some perteh stuff.

[libhart]

Funniest thing about deadnettle is that because those flowers are so small the bees have to dive straight in to get at that pollen, and once it really starts blooming heavily you'll see them come back with red all over their heads and backs, looks like a really bad dye job on a red mohawk.

[Ryan Williamson]

Last year I saw a bee with red pollen inside a hive and it had a deadnettle flower stuck to its back leg! Sure giveaway where that red pollen came from.

[dnichols]

Also called Henbit. A non-native flower. Also could be snowdrops but the pollen is usually a little more orange. Also a non-native plant. What would we do without all these non-native plants?!

[FlowerPlanter]

I saw that bright red pollen a few days ago (only one bee) and it was so red I thought is might be fake or man made until I read this.

[FlowerPlanter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamium_purpureum

This is the purple flower we see growing on farm land before a crop is planted, it can be a thick ground cover. Wikipedia says it is a good nectar and pollen scorce.

[robo mantis]

"Also called Henbit. A non-native flower. Also could be snowdrops but the pollen is usually a little more orange. Also a non-native plant. What would we do without all these non-native plants?!"

Hahaha non-native plants for a non-native pollinator. Though our native pollinators largely rely on those plants as well. Not much native blooms for the native pollinators this early.

[kenr]

Has to be red deadnettle saw my bees working it on Sat.Didn't know the name of the plant thanks to you all for the info.

[Wolfer]

Yep, my bees were bringing it in on Saturday. I didn't have a clue what it was and still don't know where their getting it.
I'm tickled to see it though.

[tsmullins]

Also called Henbit.

Henbit and deadnettle look very similar, but I am pretty sure they are a different species.

[dnichols]

Yep that is the problem with common names they are different for each region. What you guys call dead nettle I call henbit. Hence the use of the Latin Lamium amplexicaule for "henbit". And Lamium purpureum for dead nettle. What I grew up calling henbit. Now I am confused.