HONEYBEE ACTIVITY ON SAFFLOWER (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) visited safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) for nectar and pollen. About 90 per cent of the honeybees observed visited the crop in the morning. The nectar contained about 25 per cent sugars. Honeybees were by far the predominant visitors although other bees also visited the flowers. Safflower plots to which insects had full access produced twice as much seed as plots from which insects were excluded during the blooming period.