# hazelnut bushes



## Luterra (Sep 7, 2011)

Hazelnut is our first major pollen source here in western Oregon, in bloom right now. The wind-pollinated catkins have no nectar. If the weather cooperates the bees will be all over them. Yesterday all five of my hives were bee-lining to four big flowering hazelnuts 1/3 mile away and returning with baskets full of lemon-yellow pollen. The trees themselves were abuzz with bees, almost like a basswood in bloom.


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## beebze (Sep 24, 2007)

I've heard it's a poor source of pollen, but it is pollen all the same and will stimulate your hives. I hope you don't plant bushes, all the ones I bought were trees. The Catkins are not actually the flowers. The flowers themselves are very very small when looking at the tree you have to know what to look for. This year most of the bees went south before they could take advantage of the trees on the surrounding properties. Just my 2 cents worth.


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## Luterra (Sep 7, 2011)

The catkins are the male flowers and the sole source of pollen for the bees. The female flowers are tiny and to my knowledge have nothing of bee-value. 

Wind-pollinated plants tend to produce low-nutrient pollen, but when it's all that is available the bees will collect it with a vengeance.


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## toms1arrow (May 7, 2010)

I read the flower is very small and I knew the catskin was the pollinator by wind for the flower but wasn't sure if there was enough pollin for the bees to utilize. I am planting for the deer, cover and food and was hoping a benifit for my bees. Thank you all.


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Hazelnuts are wind pollinated, so they make quite a bit of pollen. Probably not nutritionally complete, but there will be other pollen available soon. Hazelnuts pollinate very early as a rule, along with things like birch and pussywillow, and the bees will collect all they can.

The male flowers are in a catkin, the female are at the tip of a twig, I think, and hard to see. Since they are wind pollinated, there will be no nectar.

Peter


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