I spent the past few days visiting my folks in Jupiter, FL which is just north of West Palm Beach. One of their neighbors are hosting some hives on their land for a Florida beekeeping during the “winter” months. This particular beekeeper mainly provides pollination services for the various citrus groves in the area as well as farms and orchards on both the coasts.
Right now, a small ground cover weed is in full bloom in the area which the bees are hitting hard. Looking at the blooms individually, they are very small and not an obvious source of pollen or nectar, but when you have 1 or 2 acres of the stuff, it is all of a sudden an excellent food source.
I stalked this one bee for a long time before I finally got a good shot to show all the pollen these tiny flowers are producing. This girl was loaded down with the stuff and wasn’t even taking the time to move all the pollen to her pollen sacs. She was literally covered head to toe with this white pollen.
Bees will take advantage of whatever is available and goes to show that what most people consider weeds are vital for the local pollinators during the lean months before the major spring and summer blooms.
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 