Method
Honey bees collect pollen on their hind legs at a very high speed that is not visible to the naked eye. There are a lot of different sunflower varieties from which honeybees collect pollen. So long as the varieties are from the same species, the pollen collected by the bees will be similar. The hind legs are specially designed to hold the pollen but that pollen may not stick directly to many of the plants the bees get to.
Amount
Where pollen does not hold, the bee will rub her hind legs across her mandibles where there is a mandibular gland, extends her tongue, and strokes the forelegs to get the glandular material and get the nectar off. According to the entomology department, up to 35 percent of the body width and weight of a worker bee can be pollen.
Variety
Bees are attracted to different varieties of sunflowers and they usually like the darker sunflowers in the morning. Sunflower pollen is not a high protein concentrated pollen and therefore it protects honeybees from pathogens such as Nosema Ceranae (Honeybee diarrhea). This pollen’s medicinal and protective effects on bees make it among the best pollen-source plant to have in your garden. The sunflower face comprises of many flowers so its benefits are broad since pollinators can get their proteins ..from it, take it back to the colony, turn it into bee bread, and feed it to the developing larvae.
