An article in the February-March 2019 issue of National Wildlife caught my attention. Entitled, ‘Bees “hit the jackpot” with sunflower pollen,' it briefly describes a study published in Scientific Reports  that suggests a potential strategy for combating population decline by helping to maintain bees' health. Lab experiments indicate that the common eastern bumble bee and the European honey bee face lower rates of infection from two widespread parasites after ingesting sunflower pollen. The researchers report trying other monofloral pollens, but none have the same positive effect.

The full report, Medicinal value of sunflower pollen against bee pathogens, is available online at:   https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32681-y

This excerpt from the abstract of the report describes the optimism of the research team: “Given consistent effects of sunflower in reducing pathogens, planting sunflowers in agricultural ecosystems and native habitat may provide a simple solution to reduce disease and improve the health of economically and ecologically important pollinators.”

We can all help by planting sunflowers, but be sure to plant open-pollinated varieties that produce pollen. Bees need pollen for protein and to feed their larvae. There are a lot of varieties of sunflowers that lack pollen, popular among people who don't want to clean up the pollen mess from cut flowers and for the allergy-prone. Pollenless sunflowers are bred so only female traits are presented, pollen being a male characteristic in the plant world. 

Still, there are many pollen-rich varieties available. If you like the giants, look for old favorites such as Mammoth Greystripe and Black Russian. Lemon Queen is a stand-by and Giant White Seeded produces a massive head with large seeds that you can roast and eat. Sunny yellow, flavorful-seeded Arikara was grown by its namesake native Americans from North Dakota. Henry Wilde is another tall heirloom and has long-lasting blooms with large yellow petals.

Autumn Beauty serves as a late summer-fall bloomer when many other flowers are spent and has lovely multicolored hues. Chocolate Cherry is a deep, brownish red and Evening Sun is a burnt orange. Sonja is a branching plant and the blooms have dark centers and deep yellow, almost orange petals. Maximillian is a perennial with lots of blooms and Domino's large blooms last for more than a month. Velvet Queen and Red Sun are dark beauties.

If you have room, plant a teddy bear variety like Sungold. They have less pollen but will make you happy.

I note, with some pleasure, that a group of Master Gardeners will distribute sunflower seeds at this year's AgDay celebration on March 8 at the Napa Valley Expo.

Sunflower and bee photo by Caio Resende from Pexels, others by Jane Callier