Planting bee-friendly plants seems to be the new fad in many cities around the globe.
In other countries, such as Canada,cities adopt pollinators.
Some companies even undertakewildflower plantingefforts.
Lavender attracts a variety of pollinating insects and is considered to be one of the most bee-friendly plants.
It offers plenty of nectar (energy for pollinating insects) but its pollen is nutritionally imbalanced for bees.
But its caloric value relies on the nectar and pollen used.
Honeybee queen larvae floating in royal jelly.
Their food is produced by nursing bees from digested pollen, nectar and water.
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There is an important feature that differentiates organic substrates from atoms.
Atoms are immutable they cannot be transformed into different atoms and cannot be produced by living organisms.
Therefore, mutable organic substrates are built of immutable elements.
But how is this related to the production of good quality jelly for the growing bee larvae?
Atoms of these other elements must be incorporated into the bodies of growing bee larvae.
Pollen is the exclusive source of these elements for bees.
And is every pollen, produced by various plant species, similar in this respect?
Pollen collection by honeybees.
Apiary of the Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University (Poland), where the study was performed.
Pictured is the coordinator of the research project, Micha Filipiak.
To collect the sulphur and potassium they need, bees need to mix these two pollens.
Working on the research project.
Plantations of single-species crops could actually limit bee development.
Sunflowers produce pollen nutritionally imbalanced for bees.
But werevealedthat the absence of the right mix of pollen is one of the main factors affecting bees.
This may improve our understanding of pollinator decline and could result in more successful intervention strategies.
Additionally,bees should have access to dirty water, such as puddles rich in decaying matter or slurry.
These arewillingly utilised by beesto allow them tosupplement sodium, which is extremely scarce in pollen.
If such a supplementation is impossible, honeybees should be provided with slightly salted water.
The bees will thank you for it.
