Today was a slow day. A couple of hours with Mom. Two-and-a-half hours driving around. Some landscaping. A walk with Mrs ERJ and a quick tour of the property.
I was happy to see that "Millbrook" hybrid willow is very attractive to bees. Millbrook is a female so it produces nectar but not pollen. Millbrook may not be as attractive to bees as "Onondaga" Salix purpurea (a male) but still quite a magnet.
Neither Millbrook or Onondaga are willows that are native species to North America. If you insist on a native species, Salix discolor is a good super-early in the East.
Willows have "sticky pollen" which is easy for bees to collect and eat. Some willow clones are among the first plants to produce large amounts of nectar and pollen in the spring. These super-early plants provide a nutritional shot-in-the-arm for early bees and for honeybee hives launching the first wave of new workers.
Sugar (nectar) fluoresces in the infrared spectrum which can be seen by bees. With very few leaves on the trees, a willow tree filled with open catkins must glow like a beacon in the IR spectrum.
The ERJ property is doing its part to make wild pollinators happy and productive.
An easy day and I am still whupped.
ERJ, Thanks for keeping the pollinators in mind. As a beekeeper myself I don't start mowing the lawn/limited areas of the pasture until the early spring bloom is over. We finally got some dry and sunny weather here and the hives are going to boom later this week into next week. They kicked my ass this weekend, already pulling supers of beautiful Pink hued Henbit - Deadnettle honey.
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Likewise! When the creeping charlie blooms I mow in strips alternating weekly. Neighbors think I'm nuts, bees positively buzzing!
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Might try to get a super spun this week!
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