Citation:  Huang, Z.Y. 2014. Honey bees will forage on tulip flowers for pollen. BeetheBest Blog, http://bees.msu.edu/2014/tulip/, Accessed {date of your visit}.

Published May 8, 2014.

Zachary Huang, Michigan State University.

Will honey bees forage on tulip flowers? On certain varieties, yes. I searched for google images and there are only a few (less than 4) photos of honey bees foraging on tulip. I have seen others occasionally showing a honey bee flying toward some tulip flowers. Kathy Keatley Garvey says perhaps the lone bee she observed on a tulip was making a mistake.  I did observed one variety of tulip attracting many bees — perhaps due to its quite abundant and drier pollen? That was April 11, 2004 (I love digital cameras! on film I am not sure if I would find my record of the date and time). Since tulips are just blooming now, this is another piece of evidence that this year our season is one month behind!

Tulip belongs to the lily family Liliaceae, genus name is Tulipa.

Cultivated tulips (Tulipa gesneriana) synthesize two antimicrobial glycosides, tuliposide A and B. These two chemicals then become lactonized and become tulipalin A and B, respectively. Some people are allergic to tuliposide A. So I hope bees do not collect too may tulip pollen!

There are not many records of honey bees foraging on tulips. So I consider this flower not important for honey bees.  Nevertheless, enjoy these flowers, as these bees certainly did!

Photos taken April 11, 2014, with Nikon D70 and Nikkor micro 60mm lens. I think I just bought the camera in March of that year!

1. Anybody knows the name of this tulip variety? Its “cups” are quite open, not typical tulip flowers with more closed cups.

2. You can see the dried pollen on the petals.
3. A bee in flight, she is covered with pollen

3. One is working hard with another one coming to the same flower.

4.  Looked at the pollen everywhere!

5. A close up of a bee in flight. the wings are almost vertical, this is during the position when the wings have reached the highest position and the wings are ready to turn direction and then flip downward to generate lift.

More photos are at

http://ww2.beetography.com/index.php/Apis-mellifera/Tulip

References:

Garvey,K.K. 2010. Tiptoeing Through the Tulips,http://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/?blogpost=2555&blogasset=42184

Shouji, K. 2003. Antimicrobial Activities of Anthers in Tulips. http://abstracts.aspb.org/pb2003/public/P36/0081.html. Accessed May 8, 2014.