Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: limyw on July 27, 2008, 01:36:22 pm

Title: Does vanilla produces nectar?
Post by: limyw on July 27, 2008, 01:36:22 pm

Anyone know does vanilla produces nectar? One guy asked me to locate some hives in his vanilla village but it is few hundred miles away :-\

Title: Re: Does vanilla produces nectar?
Post by: Steve M. on July 27, 2008, 09:44:21 pm

I may be mistaken, but I always thought that vanilla was only pollinated by a specific type of bee called the Melipona bee.  The Spanish had taken the vanilla orchid back to spain, but could never get them to produce the vanilla bean pod, until they copied the Melipona bee, that could pull back the special covering inside the orchid to get to the pollen.  That is why vanilla outside of Mexico is hand pollinated.

I watched a neat video with my daughter a while back that detailed this....pretty amazing little bee...no sting.

--Steve