# Cedar Pollen



## Tgill (May 23, 2013)

Do bees eat cedar pollen?

If so my bees will never go hungry!!!!!


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## Dominic (Jul 12, 2013)

Tgill said:


> Do bees eat cedar pollen?
> 
> If so my bees will never go hungry!!!!!


Be careful there, even if cedars were to produce pollen (they might, I'm not sure), there is no guarantee that 1) they produce a lot of it 2) it is very nutritious 3) it is appealing to bees and 4) it produces for an extended period of time.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I think they gather it when there is nothing else. Usually by the time the cedars are making pollen, the maples are right behind them...


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

Only thing I could dig up was referencing allergies, but mentioned that cedar has a low amount of protein. If so, then no, the bees likely won't bother with it.

I'm out here in a pine forest. My car turns green every year from the pollen, but its protein poor so the bees ignore it.


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## ChuckReburn (Dec 17, 2013)

The cedars around Austin produce a LOT pollen, and for a prolonged time - some days the levels are off the charts. Unfortunately bees don't use the cedar pollen - got that from a local entomologist/beekeeper the other day. No maples down here. Dandelion and some early wildflowers are about it at the moment.


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## rweakley (Jul 2, 2004)

I always figured it was the cedars or the junipers (same/similar) that the bees were getting their pollen from in the winter, but I don't know for sure. All I know is that for most years (this one is just plain awful) the bees are able to gather pollen 9-10 months out of the year so I never worried about supplementing. That's still my advice for people who are just making honey with their bees, hobbyist people like that, but if you are asking your bees for more: early pollination, nuc/package production, or queens then you will probably want to supplement no matter what the natural sources are.


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

Chuck - I was about to say I hit the jackpot, cause I know some heavy cedar groves. But if it is not good, then I can hope on the few red maples around here until other stuff gets going.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

> If so, then no, the bees likely won't bother with it.

I've seen them gather sawdust and coffee grounds... I would guess they won't bother with it if there is anything better, but I'll bet cedar pollen is better than sawdust...


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## NeilV (Nov 18, 2006)

Here they gather E. Red Cedar pollen until something better comes along. E. Red Cedars are really junipers is my understanding. As Michael says, its not a very good pollen protein-wise, but it's better than nothing (or sawdust). They apparently can raise some brood with it, but broodrearing really takes off when the Red Maples bloom. I live in town where people planted Red Maples. In more rural areas around here, there are not many Red Maples, but there are more willows, which also bloom early. Deadnettle and then Dandelions follow, and its off to the races. 

I'm planting some sugar snap peas and arugula in the garden tomorrow, with hope in my heart. Bring on Spring!!!


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

ChuckReburn said:


> The cedars around Austin produce a LOT pollen, and for a prolonged time - some days the levels are off the charts. Unfortunately bees don't use the cedar pollen - got that from a local entomologist/beekeeper the other day. No maples down here. Dandelion and some early wildflowers are about it at the moment.


Lol, you want off the charts?

In my city we *laugh* at "Extremely High" pollen counts of 400-500. During the spring and summer our pollen counts routinely hit 4-5 THOUSAND. We stop washing our cars because they literally turn green within hours of being washed.


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## Dominic (Jul 12, 2013)

Cedars (_Thuja_) and junipers (_Juniperus_) do not belong to the same genus, but vernacular names often ignore this to confuse people. And indeed, Eastern Red Cedars are not actually cedars, but junipers (Juniperus virginiana). They both do belong to the same family, however. If you spot bees on these plants, it might not be for the pollen, but for the resins.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Dominic said:


> Be careful there, even if cedars were to produce pollen (they might, I'm not sure), there is no guarantee that 1) they produce a lot of it 2) it is very nutritious 3) it is appealing to bees and 4) it produces for an extended period of time.


You can rest assured that the cedars in Texas produce prodigious amounts of pollen. Ask several million mountain cedar sufferers.


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

I have never seen our bees work the cedars here, most likely because we have so much Siberian Elm. I worked a few yards yesterday as the weather was almost 70. Great to see the bees bringing in so much pollen (by the truckloads). I even noticed about 10 of the stronger hives gathering and storing surplus nectar most likely from the maples. The weather was warm enough for the trees to actually secrete and warm enough for the foragers to collect it. February 13th. That was the first time I have seen that here. The bees here do work the cedars but in late fall for propolis.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Our filberts (hazelnuts) start producing pollen at the same time as the thuja. I think they use the ones with the higher protein (don’t know how they figure it out).


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## wcubed (Aug 24, 2008)

Red cedar does produce a lot of pollen. Bump a limb when it's in bloom and generate a cloud of pollen. But have never seen any of that gray pollen stored in a cell. Here the early pollen is American Elm, often carrying over through the maples.
Walt


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## Quill (Jan 3, 2012)

Just visited my hives and noticed they're bringing back pollen, but darned if I know where they're getting it. The only thing that is producing pollen right now is eastern red cedar, and it is loaded.
Henbit is just barely starting to bloom, but that's the only thing I've noticed, so far.
I've never noticed the bees visiting the cedar trees, so I'm not even sure that's their source. 
We don't have elm or maple here, so??


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## Hautions11 (Jun 20, 2013)

I was cutting firewood today and the girls were rolling in the sawdust piles.


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

After consulting Bee Pollen Miracle Food / Murat I, refreshed my memory regarding some pollen..

"There are two kinds of pollens, the Anemophile Pollens and the Entomophile Pollens...all the conifers (pines, firs etc.) have Anemophile pollens. Anemophile pollens do not contain the necessary desirable nutritive factors and are not gathered by the bees. Entomophile, means friend of the insects. All the pollen gathered by the bees are of this potent variety"...


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>All the pollen gathered by the bees are of this potent variety... 

The guy who wrote that never watched bees gather sawdust and coffee grounds... they definitely PREFER nutritious pollen, but they will settle for anything...


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

I could have sworn that the topic of this thread was "do bees eat cedar pollen"...try to stay focused here ok Mike..


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

Michael Bush said:


> >All the pollen gathered by the bees are of this potent variety...
> 
> The guy who wrote that never watched bees gather sawdust and coffee grounds... they definitely PREFER nutritious pollen, but they will settle for anything...


Well in all fairness you could say the same thing about humans.

"Do humans eat their shoes?" Normally no, they do not eat their shoes. Strand them on a deserted island for a few weeks, and yeah, they'll settle for anything that is vaguely organic. Boil those shoes up!

I think its pretty much implied that by asking "Do bees collect this kind of pollen?" that they are asking if it is high enough quality for them to collect given the choice. If the answer is "No, they won't collect this stuff unless there is literally nothing else available", then the answer to the question should be "No, that is not a preferred pollen source for bees."


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

I was actually just kidding Mike as I know him. He was a guest speaker at a local meeting here and I hosted him. If you do get a chance to hear him speak its well worth it. My observation was a personal one. I just have never seen any of my bees anywhere near my cedar trees (thuja) in search of pollen. Even stranger I have an enormous Arizona Cypress tree in my front yard that sprays visible clouds of pollen everywhere. I can actually collect it myself and roll it into a ball but I have never once seen a bee collect any of it because there are other sources they prefer.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Well in all fairness you could say the same thing about humans.
>"Do humans eat their shoes?" Normally no, they do not eat their shoes. Strand them on a deserted island for a few weeks, and yeah, they'll settle for anything that is vaguely organic. Boil those shoes up!

The comparison is similar, yes, but I've lived almost 60 years and while I have HEARD of people eating their shoes I've never seen it. Most years I see some bees gathering sawdust or coffee grounds... I'm sure if there is anything better they will take that, but I'm pretty sure cedar pollen is an improvement over sawdust. I've seen them gather corn pollen in a pollen dearth, but I don't think they like corn pollen, but they seem to like it better than sawdust.


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