“Come out and play” I plead. An odd bee flies out to investigate who is tramping around their hive. And, an odd bee flies in. What’s this on its hind legs? Pollen! Beekeepers can get excited by such small things and pollen is exceptionally small; a grain of daffodil pollen weighs about 50μm. It is a very hopeful sign, spring might not feel in the air quite yet, but shoots of crocus are above ground, and tips of daffodils are stretching their long necks like graceful swans, birds are pairing up and bees are stirring. The signs are there, spring is straining at the leash.
Pollen is small and bees are strong. An average honeybee weighs 2g and can carry up a pollen load that weighs about 35% of its body!
To give you an idea how small a grain of pollen is, a grain of daffodil pollen weighs about 50μm. 1 milligram (mg) = 1000 microgram (µg) = 0.000001 kilogram (kg).
“The shape of the pollens from jonquilla daffodils is also elliptic while with the deep and honeycomb-like concaves which is different from that of hyacinth pollens. ….. The average size is about 50μm.” Pollens under a microscope
More information and loads of colourful polling images see Pollen under a microscope.
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