Another newbie question...do bees get nectar from corn tassels? or any other part of the plant? If so how does the honey taste?
I have about 200 acres near me that has just began to tassel. I want to be prepared with more space for honey if need be.
I think I can answer this. Maze (corn), is not considered a bee pollinated crop. That being said, a few bees may in fact visit the corn to gather pollen, but it won't produce any nectar, so you won't get any honey from it. Incidentally, the corn will still benefit from the bee pollination, even though by in large it is wind-pollinated.
I have a 20x10 patch of corn sitting right next to my bees, and ever since the corn tassled, you can't get within 10 yard of the corn without the buzzing being louder than it is when I open the hives. I don't know what they're getting, but they absolutlely LOVE the corn tassles for something . . . . :)
CC
Does teosinte produce nectar? If so you would think that at least some varieties of corn also produce nectar since corn and teosinte are only seperated by a handful of genes.
One of my mentors from Jones Bees says that bees will travel miles and bypass other sources of pollen and nector to get to corn. I think that his words were "its like bee knip" They love the stuff. I have not experienced it for myself but his family has been doing bees since about the late 1800's here in Utah.
He did not say anything about honey flow though. I will ask him..
F
They would go for the pollen, although wind pollinates corn, mostly.
If not pollen then there is another substance they get from corn, could be for making glue.???
doak
I don't know, but one thing that I know for surely. When my corn is tasselling, the beautiful scent that comes from the tassels takes my breath away. I can smell it a longs ways away, if I can smell something so sweet in the air, I can bet my bottom dollar the bees would be interested in this beautiful smell too....
The only unfortunate thing is, I plant the supersweet corn (sh2) and the soil has not warmed enough for it to germinate. I may try to set some seed anyways, but doubtful it would mature before the cool autumn weather sets in here.....beautiful and wonderful day, Cindi
okay I'm still trying to figure it out :-P
My corn this year is downright pathetic. I'll be lucky to get 4 good ears of it. We've just been too dry.
So far I have a host of non-believers, but I'll share with ya'll as well . . . my G90 sweet corn (was about 180 stalks, lost about 15-25% to blowdowns that I wasn't able to stake back up) tassled at approximately 9'8" tall. It now has two beautiful husks on each stalk, and the tallest ones stand at 10'6", though I must admit some of the shorter, runty ones are at a measly 6'. :-D
No lie, and I have no idea how I did it, it's my first year with any kind of sizeable garden!!!!!
8-)
CC
You know what they say...."Trust but Verify" I want pics of that corn!!!
F
corn gives a lot of pollen. when the corn fields near me start to tassel, i know i have to start trapping the pollen or my queens will get plugged! there's no nectar to speak off....
Quote from: tig on June 25, 2008, 09:46:06 AM
corn gives a lot of pollen. when the corn fields near me start to tassel, i know i have to start trapping the pollen or my queens will get plugged! there's no nectar to speak off....
What do you mean by "queens will get plugged"? I am surrounded by nearby corn fields.
By plugged up, he means the comb will get packed so full of pollen that the queen will have no place to lay eggs.
I'm too new to post pics, ya'll just have to believe me this year! :-\
Quote from: ccwonka on June 25, 2008, 12:53:22 PM
I'm too new to post pics, ya'll just have to believe me this year! :-\
You can Get the moderators to post them or copy/paste the link and break it up, we'll figure out the rest. :-D
I have tassels on some 2" stalks this year. Same last year too. Droughts are tough, even on corn.
I've seen them all over sweet corn. I've seen the gather corn pollen anytime there is a dearth of pollen. I'm sure they gather more of it than I know as there are literally hundreds of acres of it around them.
My corn this year has aphids on it... strangest thing I've seen. hundreds of aphids, being farmed by the sugar ants.
Eeew.....how do you spell, ucky anyways......aphids on these types of plants that never have had them as long as I can remember.....I am speaking of the Elderberry. The ones that, as children, we used for that witches' brew. Never seen aphids on them until this year, I think they are stressed too...along with my asparagus...ramblin...beautiful and most wonderful day, we be life. Cindi
I usually get aphids on my willow tree. This year so far they've stayed off the willow but are covering the corn in large tight clusters. Definate EWW. Will just give the corn to the chickens this year I think.
Depending on how large your corn patches are, you could try using a hose sprayer (like for fertilizer or bug killer) w dishsoap & Tabasco/hot pepper ( I puree habanaro in blender/water) on the corn ears, will knock em down pretty fast. Won't last forever though, specially here in the PNW rains but the #'s of aphids & ants will be greatly reduced. A couple of times will interrupt the breeding cycle. It will even keep squirrels, raccoons & possums from damaging more than a few if you do the whole plant..they will go to the neighbors for tastier non burning treats! :evil: Nothing will get rid of everything, not even conventional poisons. When the corn is past pollination & have ears the bees probably won't be interested so no danger for them by that time. Jody
I don't know... something on my property kills most things. I swear I must live on a superfund site or something. Fleas, ticks and chiggars, all die on my property. The only two things that seem to thrive here are the aphids and sugar ants.
Quote from: Jerrymac on June 25, 2008, 03:29:46 PM
You can Get the moderators to post them
Yes that is the way to do it
Quote
or copy/paste the link and break it up, we'll figure out the rest. :-D
And this is the way to get yourself banned.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,14734.0.html
The bees are loving my corn this year!!!
(http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/8726/fallingpollenyy5.th.jpg) (http://img375.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fallingpollenyy5.jpg)
I've always heard (no experience with it) that corn pollen has no nutritional value to the bees? Say they will plug the whole brood laying area w/the pollen!
I have no bees at my house but someones bees were all over my sweet corn. I have poor hearing but I could hear their loud buzz as they worked the stalks.
I have been pulling and shucking corn all afternoon. Gave lots away and will have corn on the cob for dinner tonight.
Steve
No question they will work it (Corn) ----- but they will pick up all kinds of things in a dearth. Is it a nectar source or a nutritional pollen source?
One would think that all pollen would have some nutritional value of some sort. The dairy up the hill planted quite a few acres again this year, & there is a corn maze a mile or so down the road as the bee flies, pretty close to Sean Kelly. People come from all around the area, called Maris Farms. You might be able to google it, they may have pics that would give one an idea of what the area here is like. PNW corn is only 7-10 inches high yet, such a cold spring..corn won't grow in cold soil. Maris has the corn maze late all Oct till after Halloween. Jody
Oh my yearning for the supersweet corn that I grow. Didn't even get any in this year. The soil is very warm now though, I could try to plant a little. Corn in my micro environment can grow through to the middle of October and still be harvestable and sweet, thoughts running through my mind, maybe I will take an adventure and do this thing. Beautiful and most wonderful day, Cindi