Canna 'south pacific scarlet', planted at MSU Hort gardens. I was telling a friend once upon a time, I saw a single bee foraging on a Canna in Taiyuan, China. but the flowers were by the road side and I was inside a car..thus no photo to prove it. After hearing my story, this bee decided to forage on it!
Catalapa speciosa (I am guessing), Bignoniaceae.
Notice bees were foraging on the back of leaves also. This is due to the many extrafloral nectaries the plant has. It attracts ants to protect the trees from caterpillars (e.g. catalpa moth).
Prunus serrulata, Rosaceae. Commonly called Japanese cherry, hill cherry, oriental cherry or East Asian cherry. Most likely it originated from China but culturally it becomes more important in Japan.
Prunus tomentosa, Rosaceae. A species of Prunus native to northern and western China (including Tibet), Korea, Mongolia, and possibly northern India. Fruits are small (slight larger than soybean).
Prunus avium, Rosaceae. Shot at MSU Northwest Research Station while we were there to measure nectar secretion (amount and sugar concentration) in 2006.
Allium tuberosum, Amaryllidaceae. Common names include: garlic chives, oriental garlic, Asian chives, Chinese chives, and Chinese leek. Shot at the Beal Botanical Garden, MSU.
from Tuesday 28 March 2006 to Saturday 19 April 2008
5 photos
Trifolium incarnatum, Fabaceae. Taken in Boston, GA, except one was from Taiwan. Oren and Dennie Best rented a house there and there was a large patch of crimson clover and it was beautiful...and of course honey bees loved them.
Melilotus albus, Fabaceae.
Common names include Bokhara clover, honey clover, tree clover, sweet clover, white-flowered sweet clover, white sweet clover, white melilot. Blooms every two years and flowering lasts 2-3 months during summer in Michigan. Considered invasive.
Melilotus officinalis, Fabaceae. Also known as yellow sweet clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot. Blooms every other year and flowering lasts 2-3 months in Michigan. Excellent nectar plant but considered invasive.
Maize, Zea mays subsp. mays, Poaceae.
Shot at the field site of 2013 HAS meeting, July 13, 2013. Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN.
Honey bees will forage for corn pollen, even though the pollen is not optimal in nutrition.
Cotinus coggygria, Anacardiaceae. Also called "smokey tree" as the stalks (95% are sterile) are long and thin and waves in the wind, giving an impression that it is smokey. There is a large patch of this plant near the bee biology near the lakes. This was taken June 4, 2014.