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The Corroboree
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how long does pollen stay viable once a bee gets it

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say for instance a bee got some pollen on a monday, and then landed on another flower on the Friday, would it be possible for the pollen to still be in the bees system.

sorry if this is a silly question, just ive had fruits form in other years when there was nothing else around to pollinate, of course also its possible that there was other cactus around that I didn't know about.

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The pollen would likely be viable after that time, however the bees probably don't carry the pollen that long. I imagine they clean most of it off when they return to the hive.

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Yeah I agree kykeion, I was under the impression that the bees cleaned themselves of pollen upon returning to the hive ? Although I'm no bee expert by any means , maybe someone with some knowledge about this can weigh in on the subject  

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Im surprised to read people think pollen would be viable after spending a year traveling around on a bees back, exposed to rain, heat, and uv 

Im no expert, but i thought pollen was rather fragile, and needed to be stored in ideal conditions to ensure it remains viable. 

 

Sorry if im derailing your questions abit, but what really interest me is why the pollen breaks down. 

Is it receptor proteins in the outer cell wall degrading over time?

Is it the cell wall breaking down allowing the DNA to degrade?

Or can the DNA degrade while the pollen cell wall remains intact? 

 

Ive been looking at this year pollen through a microscope and ill keep watching it over the next few weeks to see if any visible damage occurs.

 

Edited by Change
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im not suggesting a year, maybe a week at most, pollen aint so supremely fragile, wrap it in foil and leave it in the fridge it will last a good 2 weeks. some people might disagree but ive had pollen stored (and used) after 2 weeks plus, with no silica gel, after 2 weeks the mould starts to form.

I know others who have done the same.

 

be very interesting to see what you see under the microscope.

 

im hoping someone who knows more about bees than I do can answer this question, I thought it a silly question but the more I look at it the more I think its very valid.

so any apiarists out there tell us what you know about bees and pollen.

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so I suppose to simplify my question I would say...

 

do bees clean themselves of pollen upon returning to the hive?

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Whoops 

When i first read the thread yesterday i thought it was about a flower from a previous year, looks like my mind imagined that part of the thread. My bad 

 

With how tiny pollen is id be really surprised if a bee had the ability to remove every tiny piece. So i think your suggestion is very possible. 

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ps. I wont be doing seeds this year after my last debacle, too much commitment, if theres anything it will be OP and IM PLANTING THEM ALL mwhahaha.

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ive just moved house, and as I was clearing the fridge I found a bag of yellow powder, scop pollen from 2015, its anyones guess if it was viable or not but it looked intact, no silica gel, like a world of other things it went in the bin.

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With how tiny pollen is id be really surprised if a bee had the ability to remove every tiny piece. So i think your suggestion is very possible. 

 

While I agree with the bees not necessarily getting every grain, one grain of pollen generally equals one seed at pollination. So you might get a few seeds pollinated by "left over" pollen, but a full fruit of seed would be very unlikely.  I'd say its more likely that you either have a self fertile cactus, or a neighbor with a compatible species blooming at the same time. 

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