Galanthus and bees
john@oltarakwa.co.uk (Fri, 09 Jan 2015 07:57:12 PST)

As several people have confirmed, honey bees (and other insects) visit
snowdrops whenever temperatures are high enough. Snowdrops are
out-crossing, and buzz-pollinated with poricidal anthers.

When mentioning this in talks audience members have frequently expressed
surprise that bees and snowdrops coincide. My reply is always that they
do, even in UK, but in many places where they grow wild they come into
flower much later (March/April) as the snow melts. Ambient temperatures
are then very much higher than in England in February and insects are
consequently much more active. No doubt too, the flowers are much more
ephemeral, rather than lasting for weeks as they do here.

John Grimshaw

On 2015-01-08 23:57, T O wrote: