Hi everyone ,
the bees round here ( both bumbles and 'normal') seem to be taking the nectar from the runner beans via the 'back door'. ie they are munching a hole at the stem end of the flower and guzzling from there ... rather than going in through the flower and pollenating it ... as a result I have poor pollenation rates on my runners.
I keep telling them they shouldn't do it ... but I don't think I talk 'bee' very fluently !!!
Has anyone else observed their bees being lazy ???
And how do you train them to do otherwise ?????
suggestions (!) appreciated ...
yummyveggies
bees and runner beans
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Hello yummyveggies
Interesting. I didn't think this phenomenon occurred in the UK. What you describe is exactly what bees do in parts of NZ, but only to beans with red flowers. I lived in Auckland and this occurence depended on which part of Auckland you lived in. Most people grow beans with white flowers anyway, but in areas where bees had this sneaky habit, they simply wouldn't grow scarlet runners or the like, as the yields were so poor. And this was attributed only to bumblebees and not normal ones.
Having said all that, this year we have grown three varieties of runner beans. Two red (Streamline and un-named) and a white variety (White Lady). Guess which one has by far the higher yield?? Yes, White Lady. This is the first year we've grown a white flowering runner here, but over the last two years we've grown Painted Lady (red & white bicolour flowers), with two different varieties of red flowering beans. Funnily enough, Painted Lady has always had the highest yield too. Not that the others have been poor, just not as high as PL.
Not sure any of this gives a scientific basis for a conclusion, but all these pieces of info do seem to indicate there is something in your observation.
What flower colour are the beans you are growing?
Interesting. I didn't think this phenomenon occurred in the UK. What you describe is exactly what bees do in parts of NZ, but only to beans with red flowers. I lived in Auckland and this occurence depended on which part of Auckland you lived in. Most people grow beans with white flowers anyway, but in areas where bees had this sneaky habit, they simply wouldn't grow scarlet runners or the like, as the yields were so poor. And this was attributed only to bumblebees and not normal ones.
Having said all that, this year we have grown three varieties of runner beans. Two red (Streamline and un-named) and a white variety (White Lady). Guess which one has by far the higher yield?? Yes, White Lady. This is the first year we've grown a white flowering runner here, but over the last two years we've grown Painted Lady (red & white bicolour flowers), with two different varieties of red flowering beans. Funnily enough, Painted Lady has always had the highest yield too. Not that the others have been poor, just not as high as PL.
Not sure any of this gives a scientific basis for a conclusion, but all these pieces of info do seem to indicate there is something in your observation.
What flower colour are the beans you are growing?
The cow is of the bovine ilk
One end is moo, the other, milk.
One end is moo, the other, milk.
Honeybees tongues are not long enough to reach the necter on beans, they are crafty and wait for bumbles who cut the hole, and then they can both reach the necter,and we think we're bright 
hope this is of some help.
hope this is of some help.Take only photo's,leave only footprints.
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yummyveggies
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thank you both for your answers .... they are clever bees aren't they !!!
I am growing a white flowered variety .... having said that I went out today and had a good look and although the bees are all going in the back door the hover flies seem to be doing the business ok !!!
And more seem to be setting ...
thanks ! And actually a good thing the runners are not so prolific as the climbing french cobras have been awesome ... with the hover flies doing their business we should start to be producing more runners... thanks !
I am growing a white flowered variety .... having said that I went out today and had a good look and although the bees are all going in the back door the hover flies seem to be doing the business ok !!!
And more seem to be setting ...
thanks ! And actually a good thing the runners are not so prolific as the climbing french cobras have been awesome ... with the hover flies doing their business we should start to be producing more runners... thanks !
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Primrose
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When my runner bean flowers failed to set in the July heatwave somebody suggested to me it was the bees trying their backdoor antics but I'm still not convinced as my Thompson & Morgan purple flowered Blauhilde and white flowered Cobra climbing beans set perfectly OK. When the weather cooled down my runner bean red flowers started setting again, so I'm wondered whether the problem is partly to do with the heat and partly due to the bees being more attracted to red flowers. Perhaps the heat was forcing the red flowers not to open, so the bees started looking for alternative ways to try and get at the pollen?
Hi Primrose,
The reason you get a good set from Cobra and other French Climbing Beans is that they are self fertile and do not have to rely on any Bees. This also goes for French Dwarf Beans.
I grow Cobra, Diamaint, Cosse Violette and Corona D'Oro which are all self fertile. I think for taste out of these Cosse Violette is probably the more flavoursome to the others. The beans are purple but turn a dark green when you steam/boil them. I steam everything now and boiling is a thing of the past here.
I have a great amount of Bees on the plot including two hives place in the orchard every spring by a local beekeeper. Strangely though I do not have any difficulty with the Bees biting into the base of the flower I grow two runner varieties Streamline and the old favourite Scarlet Emperor which I have grown since the early 1940's. Strangely I have tried Painted Lady but have never ever had a satisfactory
yield from them yet for Chez they do well. The thing is I simply can't fathom why they are not so good for me! The PL that I have raised have had a superb taste.
but simply not enough of them.
The reason you get a good set from Cobra and other French Climbing Beans is that they are self fertile and do not have to rely on any Bees. This also goes for French Dwarf Beans.
I grow Cobra, Diamaint, Cosse Violette and Corona D'Oro which are all self fertile. I think for taste out of these Cosse Violette is probably the more flavoursome to the others. The beans are purple but turn a dark green when you steam/boil them. I steam everything now and boiling is a thing of the past here.
I have a great amount of Bees on the plot including two hives place in the orchard every spring by a local beekeeper. Strangely though I do not have any difficulty with the Bees biting into the base of the flower I grow two runner varieties Streamline and the old favourite Scarlet Emperor which I have grown since the early 1940's. Strangely I have tried Painted Lady but have never ever had a satisfactory
yield from them yet for Chez they do well. The thing is I simply can't fathom why they are not so good for me! The PL that I have raised have had a superb taste.
but simply not enough of them.
JB.
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Primrose
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Johnboy - you live and learn something new every day! I never realised that climbing & dwarf French beans were self fertile, whereas runner beans arn't. This perhaps goes a long way to explaining why I've had much better crops from them than my runners in the strange weather conditions we've had this year. I'll certainly bear this in mind for next year and perhaps not grow runners again. Thanks for the info - hope I'm never too old to learn something.