# Bees throwing pollen out of the hive?



## Shellie (Jul 4, 2012)

Yesterday I noticed little yellow balls on the ground in front of one of my hives. I squished one of the balls between my fingers and i was mostly powdery. It looks like pollen. Today there are alot of the little balls in front of both of my hives. It looks like the pollen that the foragers are bringing in, but it also looks like the bees are actively throwing the pollen out of the hives. They look very intent on throwing the pollen out. Why would the bees do this? Is this something to be concerned about?

Thanks,
Shellie


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## CaBees (Nov 9, 2011)

I am curious about this too and hope you get some replies...

Have you been in the hive to see what you can see?


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## Shellie (Jul 4, 2012)

I plan to open the hives this weekend. I will report what I find.

Shellie


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## CaBees (Nov 9, 2011)

Oh good. I'm thinking the pollen may be contaminated, have fungus or something like that. You may want to take note of what pollen is still in there and where it is in relation to the brood nest...


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

I've read about poisonous plants...They surely have pollen...I wonder if the bees have rejected the pollen for cause? Someone will chime in to illuminate us all soon.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Could it be trying to make room for the last round of winter brood and rather chuck pollen than nectar or honey?


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

Bees are not perfect, they sometimes drop pollen when they are placing it in cells. When they drop it, instead of picking it up and returning to the pollen cells, the house bees take it out as trash. This action is common when much pollen is comming in.


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## djdup (Jul 5, 2012)

I agree with AR. I have noticed a lot of pollen in the oil trays under the SBB's. Its just what gets knocked off the bees legs or what falls out of the comb.


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## Shellie (Jul 4, 2012)

The bees have been very busy chucking "pollen" today. There is quite a pile of it. There are not as many foragers bringing it in now. I did see foragers bringing lighter pollen. I waned to add some more pictures.


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Remove the screen, it's knocking the pollen off their legs as they attempt to get in the blocked entrance.

I left the top cover lifted up a bit on my hivetop feeder and ended up with that same ragweed pollen in the bottom, the bees were getting in and couldn't get through the screen and dropped the pollen trying.

Peter


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

I concur with Peter, you need to get that screen off of the entrance or your hive might end up being short on pollen stores going into winter.


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## Tohya (Apr 6, 2011)

You made an impromptu pollen trap with that screen. It doesn't really hurt any thing, the bees will just work a little harder at collecting pollen.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I think it's more likely that it is contaminated with fungicide and it won't ferment. It's supposed to ferment to make bee bread.


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Michael, I considered the possibility of contaminated pollen as well but with the amount of wire mesh that was in front of the entrance that the bees had to traverse over it seemed more likely that the pollen was being pulled off by the wire as the bees made their way to the entrance. Contamination is always a possibility however and it would be a good idea for Shellie to keep it in mind.


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## wcubed (Aug 24, 2008)

I vote for wire stripping. If you look closely at the pellets, you will see that they are streamlined by airflow in flight. Shaped like a cyclist helmet. If packed in a cell, pollen loses that shape. So, not rejected internal to the hive.

Note that normal loss on the landing board is often retrieved for use inside - sometimes overnight. That lodged in the wire might give the bees some problem with retrieval.

Walt
Opinion is my worst enemy.


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## Shellie (Jul 4, 2012)

The bees were throwing pollen out of the hive before the wire was put on. Also, The pollen is on the ground before it would get brushed by the wire. I will say, that there is some pollen that is getting brushed off by the wire, however, that pollen is on the landing board, underneath the wire. 

Micheal, If the pollen is contaminated, will that affect the bees? I have been considering moving them. Maybe now is the time?

I put the wire on the hives as a mouse guard.

Thank you!
Shellie


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## Shellie (Jul 4, 2012)

My husband just reminded me that during our observatation (after I posted this), we both saw a bee throwing pollen out.

Thanks!

Shellie


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Sometimes pollen falls out of the frames when you're going through them, especially the new stuff. We're probably never know why, they don't like it for whatever reason. Maybe the pollen was old.


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## cjgayle (Aug 10, 2015)

I know this is an old thread but I am having the same issue. I do not have wire mesh in front of my entrance. The bees have left a bunch of pollen under the hive though and I was concerned. Is this something to worry about?


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## BlankenBee (Jun 1, 2015)

I have four hives and I have only been seeing this at one of the four. All have screened bottoms with oil pans.


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## jhinshaw (Aug 14, 2014)

I had a similar screen on that caused them to lose their baskets earlier in the spring but when that was happening they did not turn around to throw it off the edge or to pick up what they dropped. If they dropped it passing thru no one would carry off the pollen besides me haha.


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## wcubed (Aug 24, 2008)

Just because you see pollen pellets on the landing board does not mean the bees are "throwing it out." A full load of pollen sometimes gets jarred loose on touchdown. One or both. They make no effort to retrieve it at that time. Too busy. Later, when things are less busy, they can retrieve it.
Walt


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## Hated Critic (11 mo ago)

Shellie said:


> Yesterday I noticed little yellow balls on the ground in front of one of my hives. I squished one of the balls between my fingers and i was mostly powdery. It looks like pollen. Today there are alot of the little balls in front of both of my hives. It looks like the pollen that the foragers are bringing in, but it also looks like the bees are actively throwing the pollen out of the hives. They look very intent on throwing the pollen out. Why would the bees do this? Is this something to be concerned about?
> 
> Thanks,
> Shellie
> ...


I noticed this happening and realized that the pollen was being knocked off of the bees because they were crawling through loose part of my robber screen. I adjusted the robber screen so it had a tighter fit and the problem vanished. So, perhaps there is some barrier causing the bees to lose pollen while crawling into the hive.


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## elmer_fud (Apr 21, 2018)

FYI, this is a 7 year old thread, so you may not get many responsed.


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

Shellie said:


> I plan to open the hives this weekend. I will report what I find.


. 
My money is on, that it’s your “mouse guard” wire stripping the pollen out of there sacks as they enter. Once on the BB, no one is trying to recollect it, & tossing it to the ground?


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## BenjaminM (Mar 10, 2020)

Look up pollen traps. They do exactly what that wire screen on the front of your hive is doing.

Remove the screen and see what you have a week from now.


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## thill (Nov 30, 2020)

Someone mentioned that during the dearth between July and early September, bees will even collect corn pollen, which they cannot eat. I notice that most of these posts are from August and September. Could it be something like that?


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