Ever seen a honey bee foraging on a daffodil?

In the early spring, blooms are few and far between. Daffodils are not usually considered "bee plants." But if nothing else is blooming, bees will head over to the daffodils.

On a Feb. 6th visit to the UC Davis Ecological Garden at the Student Farm, we watched a lone honey bee--probably from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility apiary on Bee Biology Road--gathering pollen in a nearby bed of daffodils.

The bee's heavy load of daffodil pollen looked like pure gold.

Norm Gary, UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology, writes about the importance of pollen in his book, Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees: "The importance of pollen in the health and vigor of the honey bee colony cannot be overstated. Bees need a balanced diet. Honey satisfies the bees' carbohydrate requirements, while all of the other nutrients--minerals, proteins, vitamins, and fatty substances--are derived from pollen. Nurse bees consume large amounts of pollen, converting it into  nutritious secretions that are fed to developing larvae. During an entire year, a typical bee colony gathers and consumes around 77 pounds (35 g) of pollen."

Daffodils belong to the genus Narcissus, named for a handsome hunter, who, in Greek mythology, fell in love with his own reflection (the word "narcissism" means "excessive self-love").

There was a lot of love that day in the daffodil bed. 

The things we overlook are the things we should look for.

Take mustard and honey bees.

You've seen mustard thriving in fields, but have you ever considered planting some seeds from a nursery in your garden so honey bees will have something to eat in early spring? (And then, of course, replacing the mustard with other plants so the mustard does not go to seed? The soil also benefits.)

We've been planting mustard now for several years, and it's a joy to watch the bees foraging, flying and gathering pollen and nectar. Sometimes they'll stop in mid-air to clean their tongues.

"The importance of pollen to the health and vigor of the honey bee colony cannot be overstated," writes Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, in his book, Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees. "Honey bees need a balanced diet. Honey satisfies the  bees' carbohydrates requirements, while all of the other nutrients--minerals, proteins, vitamins and fatty substances--are derived from pollen. Nurse bees consume large amounts of pollen, converting it into nutritious secretions that are fed to developing larvae. During an entire year, a typical bee colony gathers and consumes around 72 pounds of pollen."

"Pollen in the plant world is the equivalent of sperm in the animal world," Gary continues. "Fertilization and growth of seeds depend upon the transfer of pollen from the male flower parts (anthers) to the receptive female parts (stigma)."

Yes, airborne pollen causes most human allergies, Gary acknowledges.

But for us, watching the bees go airborne with a load of pollen is a treat, a treasure and a tribute to their industrious bee-ings.

The phrase "can't cut the mustard" (not able to handle the job) doesn't apply to honey bees. It's spring and honey bees are emerging en force from their hives to collect nectar and pollen to feed their colonies.

The fields are awash with mustard.

By the way, O. Henry, in his collection of short stories, The Heart of the West, was apparently the first known person to use the phrase, "Cut the mustard." He wrote: "I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard."

Today we hear the more negative version, "can't cut the mustard."

Meanwhile, it's a joy to see a bee swathed in gold dust from the mustard. In doing so, our bee is akin to the kid with a milk mustache. Life is good!

"The importance of pollen to the health and vigor of the honey bee colony cannot be overstated," UC Davis emeritus professor and retired bee wrangler Norman Gary writes in the newly published second edition of his book, The Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees. "Bees need a balanced diet. Honey satisfies the bees' carbohydrate requirements, while all of the other nutrients--minerals, proteins, vitamins and fatty substances--are derived from pollen. Nurse bees consume large amounts of pollen, converting it into nutritious secretions that are fed to developing larvae. During an entire year a typical bee colony gathers and consumes around 71 pounds (35 kg) of pollen."

The next time you see honey bees collecting pollen, think of a colony gathering 71 pounds of pollen a year!

Apiculturist Norm Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, with his newly published second edition of his book. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

When folks hear about the 70-year beekeeping/bee wrangling career of 85-year-old apiculturist Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of Davis, they ask:

"How many times have you been stung?"

Let's see, can you guess?

Gary, internationally known as "The Bee Man," began keeping bees at age 15 in Florida. His career includes hobby beekeeper, commercial beekeeper, deputy apiary inspector in New York, honey bee research scientist, entomology professor, author, bee wrangler and Guinness World record holder.

He once trained bees to fly into his mouth to collect food from a small sponge saturated with artificial nectar. His holds the Guinness World record (109 bees inside his closed mouth for 10 seconds) for the stunt. He's also the person behind the "bee suit" record in the Guinness World Records; Gary clustered more than 87 pounds of bees on a friend.

So, how many times has he been stung?

"I didn't keep records, of course," the Sacramento-area resident understandably points out. "Many thousands for sure!  I was probably stung over a thousand times during one summer as an apiary inspector in New York state.  We didn't wear gloves."

"People don't understand that a sting is not very significant if you remove the stinger within several seconds before much venom is injected," he says. "So we worked fast and took chances that resulted in more stings but we didn't mind that much because we developed a strong tolerance, without significant reactions, and removed the stings instantly."

"During my long career, I manipulated much greater numbers of colonies more frequently than most bee researchers because my research was field-oriented.  So several hundred stings per year for 70 years is a lot of stings.  My guess is that the total number of stings would be around 20,000.  Unfortunately the sting number estimates were greatly exaggerated during some of my TV shows.  But that is show biz!"

Gary, author of the newly published Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees, second edition, writes in his book that "most people have an exaggerated sense of dread concerning bee stings due to a wealth of misleading negative information in the media."

Bees are defensive, not aggressive, he says. "Defensive behavior happens only when you are very close to the hive. Bees foraging on flowers or collecting water certainly have the ability to sting, yet they behave as if hey are totally defensiveless. They will fly away in response to the slightest disturbance. Remember, a bee that has stung dies within a few seconds and the colony benefits only if this sacrifice is made in defense of the colony."

Gary, who holds a doctorate in entomology from Cornell University, joined the UC Davis entomology faculty in 1962, retiring in 1994 after a 32-year academic career. He has authored more than 100 publications, including scientific papers, book chapters and popular articles in beekeeping trade journals. During his professional bee wrangling career spanning four decades, “The Bee Man” served as a consultant and bee stunt coordinator for 17 movies, 70 TV shows and six TV commercials. Among his credits: the movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes” and TV appearances with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno.

In his book, Gary covers activities inside and outside the hive, reproduction, management of colonies, honey and other products, urban beekeeping, beekeeper education (he mentions the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program), and entertaining with bees, among other topics.

That's in addition to colony defense and sting prevention. "The Bee Man" zeroes in on stinging behavior, getting stung, minimizing the effects of stings, reactions to stings, and why bees sting.

Why do they sting? "Defensive behavior is necessary for their survival, to protect the colony and the stored honey and pollen."