Broad beans - no crop!

[Suky]

When I visited the lottie during the week I noticed there were no baby bean pods on the broadies. Closer inspection showed every single bloom has a small hole bored in it at the stem end and while I was watching a bee buzzed up and WHAM, hole drilled, nectar supped and away As all the lower buds have dropped off do I assume that the rest will too and scrap the whole crop of give it a little longer?

[mothhawk]

I would leave them for a while. The bees with short tongues emerge earlier than the species with longer tongues (like the garden bumble) and they are the ones that have developed this trick as it is the only way they can reach the nectar in deep flowers. Hopefully as the longer tongued bumblebees get out and about, they will do the job properly.

[Flummery]

I've had that happen and still got a reasonable crop. In fact, some of the holey flowers didn't drop and produced beans.

[Suky]

Thanks, Flum. I'll leave them a bit longer then.

[Two_Sheds]

Broad beans are self-pollinating to a certain extent, so you should get some beans even without bees, although you'll get many more if your bees are working hard. Have you got some early flowers to attract the bees in the Feb/Mar? Dandelions are good