# Is This Pollen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Beekeeping - Basics\ **Tags:** qld-queensland\ **Created:** [July 28, 2024, 5:56am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344 "2024-07-28T05:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ClintSC9](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/clintsc9/32/29496_2.png) [@ClintSC9](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ClintSC9)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 5:56am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/1 "2024-07-28T05:56:56Z")
![20240728_123934](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/c/a/cae9e2118d8ed36b4ccfb8cd78a5fff649ece9d5.jpeg) This is just one day since cleaning the tray and replenishing the oil. We are seeing a lot of pollen being taken in for the last week or so. It’s our first Brisbane winter beekeeping. ---
**Author:** ![JeffH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/jeffh/32/7192_2.png) [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 10:02am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/2 "2024-07-28T10:02:48Z")
That doesn’t look like pollen to me, more like brood cappings, however it seems a lot for just one day. Keep an eye on it & keep us updated. You could clean it out daily, but don’t worry about the oil for the time being, I’m up in Buderim, a lot of my hives are building rapidly to swarming strength. I started splitting after that last cold wind died down. I’ll probably stop tomorrow, especially if it’s windy. ---
**Author:** ![ClintSC9](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/clintsc9/32/29496_2.png) [@ClintSC9](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ClintSC9)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/3 "2024-07-29T03:45:17Z")
![20240729_092142](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/a/e/ae4bf88d340752973595eceb430323c84f0f082c.jpeg) More droppings, this is added to yesterdays. I’m guessing all the orange coloured dots are brood cappings, but the dusting is a bit like a coarse powder. There’s a couple of beetles in there as well so I’m keeping up the oil. I just turned the tray around today so they can fill the other half. 😀 There’s more of it on the north east corner where the hive is warmer. On our recent inspections, there’s usually more pollen in the northern frames and more stored honey in the south where it’s colder. The hive faces east, so the winter sun keeps the north side warm. ---
**Author:** ![JeffH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/jeffh/32/7192_2.png) [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:14am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/4 "2024-07-29T08:14:22Z")
I would be inclined to pick a warm sunny day with no wind to do a brood check, just to see what’s going on with those frames above the affected area. ---
**Author:** ![ClintSC9](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/clintsc9/32/29496_2.png) [@ClintSC9](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ClintSC9)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 12:26pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/5 "2024-07-29T12:26:03Z")
Last check was three days ago. All looked OK but heaps of pollen in the northern frames. My wife videos all our inspections and they are on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7HIJxpjvPo&t=278s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7HIJxpjvPo&t=278s) is the latest. Those frames come out around the 9 minute mark. ---
**Author:** ![JeffH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/jeffh/32/7192_2.png) [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/6 "2024-07-29T20:58:40Z")
Hi Clint, I saw all that pollen in the frames, now I’m wondering if it’s all in the tray now for some reason. My first inclination is that hive beetles are doing something with it. I didn’t see any in the video, however that doesn’t mean that there’s none there. Another quick inspection of those frames could be warranted, just to see if anything has changed since your last inspection. ---
**Author:** ![ClintSC9](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/clintsc9/32/29496_2.png) [@ClintSC9](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ClintSC9)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/7 "2024-07-30T00:48:39Z")
![20240730_091110](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/c/1/c14224268840cef570c5b8fdbaa558e3855481ab.jpeg) A bit too cool and breezy to open up today. Here’s some close up. I’m guessing just pollen. Watching the entrance, they’ve been bringing in heaps over the last week or so and the job of packing it in must mean losing some. Weather has been quite dry and they’ve also been collecting lots of water from their dish in the last week so that may help keep it in place. We have a few SHBs, not nearly as many as we had in summer, but the girls put them in a “jail” they’ve created under the inner cover. ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 1:04am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/8 "2024-07-30T01:04:54Z")
Looks very much pollen to me, but it is pollen which has been “unpacked” from the bees’ corbiculae (carrying sacs on the back legs). When a bee gathers pollen, the forager decides which cell to put it in. Before it is unpacked, it forms nice little ovoid bundles. If you ever use a pollen trap in a hive, you will see what I mean. Pollen traps are design to dislodge the pollen bundles from the bees’ legs as they enter the hive. Very nice example of those pollen ovoid bundles in the first minute of this video: [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/f/f/ff10d5b1c4ef782822f40dbdfdf01bc460382e21.jpeg "Pollen Trapping. How and why we do it.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCP28HKivrY) Once inside the hive and unpacked into a cell, the bundles are broken down and compacted into bee bread by mixing with a little honey. If some of that fell out of a cell, it would look like the stuff on your finger. They must be bringing in tons! Your brood will have plenty of food this season 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![JeffH](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/jeffh/32/7192_2.png) [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 4:49am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/9 "2024-07-30T04:49:49Z")
At first I thought you were in Sydney, but discovered you are in Brisbane. I’m in Buderim. We were in Caboolture (more foundation & frames) earlier today. It’s cold & windy down there. I was going to do some splitting this afternoon, but decided to wait till tomorrow, when it will be 1 deg warmer, with less wind. I don’t use screened floors, so I don’t get to see what you’re seeing. If the dust is just bits of pollen, that would be fine. I guess if it falls on a solid floor, the bees can pick it up & make use of it. The only stuff I see on a solid floor is brood cappings before they clean it out, which they have no further use of. That IS a lot of dust, but so is that amount of pollen collected in 36 hours in that video Dawn shared. It’s normally too cold for beetle activity at this time of year anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Balubabalu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/balubabalu/32/28433_2.png) [@Balubabalu](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Balubabalu)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/10 "2024-07-31T20:30:48Z")
“coarse powder” could also be wax the bees produced in their glands, but weren’t able to use anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/11 "2024-07-31T20:43:40Z")
That kind of wax is white translucent flakes, not yellow. It is very pretty! 😉 Also, it doesn’t look sticky like that powder does. I stick with pollen 😊 ---
**Author:** ![ClintSC9](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/clintsc9/32/29496_2.png) [@ClintSC9](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ClintSC9)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/12 "2024-07-31T22:47:41Z")
Me too Dawn. We gave them a new frame a few weeks ago and they’ve been filling it out while the powder is falling in the tray, but not so much under that frame. ---
**Author:** ![ClintSC9](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/clintsc9/32/29496_2.png) [@ClintSC9](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ClintSC9)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/is-this-pollen/37344/13 "2024-08-01T02:02:55Z")
![20240801_085238](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/3/7/3795949dd8d096dd9c5348b2e8d4bf57b8a44724.jpeg) Today’s pic. I spun the tray 180 for a couple of days. Might give it a cleanup tomorrow and have a look in if it warms up a little.