Nectar robbing

Definition

Carpenter bees and short-tongued bumblebees routinely slit the base of a long tubular corolla and drink directly. Other insects, including honey bees, then use the same hole. It is a useful corrective to the assumption that a bee on a flower is helping it — visiting and pollinating are different things.

Honey records that discuss this

• Field bean honeyMild and clean with a faint green-bean vegetal note under a soft sweetness — pleasant and undemanding rather than distinctive.

Plant records that discuss this

• ComfreyExceptional nectar, but genuinely restricted by flower shape — which is why the separate rating for accessibility matters more here than almost anywhere else.
• Field beanGood on both counts, and unusual in offering nectar from two different structures.
• ColumbineA good nectar source that most bees cannot reach legitimately — which is precisely what makes it interesting.

Bee records that discuss this

• Buff-tailed bumblebeeThe commonest bumblebee in Europe, the one reared commercially by the million for tomato pollination, and — as a consequence of that trade — an invasive species on several continents. It is also the bee behind the winter bumblebees now active through December and January in mild British cities, which is a genuine and recent behavioural change.

Guide records that discuss this

• Nectar plants explainedNectar is a payment. Understanding what the plant is buying, and how it controls the price, explains most of what flowers do and why some are useless to some bees.