Editing List of pollen sources (section)

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[[Image:Bee on top of rata flower.jpg|thumb|right|Bee collecting pollen from [[:w:Metrosideros carminea|rata]]]]
[[Image:Early April Pollen.jpg|thumb|right|Pollen-laden bees at hive entrance]]
[[Image:Plumpollen0060.jpg|thumb|right|Bee on plum tree with pollen]]

The term '''pollen source''' is often used in the context of [[beekeeping]] and refers to flowering plants as a source of [[pollen]] for bees or other insects. Bees collect pollen as a protein source to raise their brood. For the plant, the [[pollinizer]], this can be an important mechanism for [[sexual reproduction]], as the [[pollinator]] distributes its pollen. Few flowering plants [[self-pollination|self-pollinate]]; some can provide their own pollen (self fertile), but require a pollinator to move the pollen; others are dependent on [[cross pollination]] from a genetically different source of viable pollen, through the activity of pollinators.  One of the possible pollinators to assist in cross-pollination are honeybees. The article below is mainly about the pollen source from a beekeeping perspective.

The pollen source in a given area depends on the type of [[vegetation]] present and the length of their bloom period.  What type of vegetation will grow in an area depends on soil texture, [[soil pH]], soil drainage, daily maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, extreme minimum winter temperature, and [[growing degree day]]s.  The plants listed below are plants that would grow in [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20150303152208/http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html Hardiness zone] 5.  A good predictor for when a plant will bloom and produce [[pollen]] is a calculation of the growing degree days.

The color of pollen below indicates the color as it appears when the pollen arrives at the beehive.  After arriving to the colony with a fresh load of pollen, the honey bee unloads its pollen from the [[pollen basket]] located on its hind legs. The [[worker bee]]s in the colony mix dry pollen with [[nectar]] and/or [[honey]]
with their enzymes, and naturally occurring yeast from the air.  Workers then compact the pollen. storing each variety in an individual wax hexagonal cell ([[honeycomb]]), typically located within their [[bee brood]] nest. This creates a fermented pollen mix call [[beekeeper]]s call 'bee bread'. 
Dry pollen, is a food source for bees, which may contain 16–30% protein, 1–10% fat, 1–7% starch, many vitamins, some micro nutrients, and possibly a little sugar.  The protein source needed for rearing one worker bee from larval to adult stage requires approximately 120 to 145&nbsp;mg of pollen.  An average bee colony will collect about 20 to 57&nbsp;kg (44 to 125 pounds) of pollen a year.<ref>[http://www.nhb.org/download/research/rvalue.pdf THE R-VALUES OF HONEY: POLLEN COEFFICIENT] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060724223252/http://www.nhb.org/download/research/rvalue.pdf |date=2006-07-24 }}  accessed Feb 2005</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite journal|author=Reiter, R. |url=https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/3589/1/V47N04_137.pdf |title=THE COLORATION OF ANTHER AND CORBICULAR POLLEN|journal=The Ohio Journal of Science |volume=XLVII|date=July 1947|issue=4|location=Camden, N. J.}}</ref>