Green Lynx Spider eats Honey Bee on Cannabis

Subject:  Green Lynx Spider eats Honey Bee on Cannabis
Geographic location of the bug:  Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California
Date: 07/15/2021
Time: 09:24 AM PDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Bugman,
This is not the first time I have seen a Honey Bee on my Cannabis.  The herb is pollinated by the wind.  Why are the Honey Bees attracted to my Cannabis?
How you want your letter signed:  Constant Gardener

Green Lynx Spider eats Honey Bee

Dear Constant Gardener.
Thanks for your Food Chain image.  We don’t know why Honey Bees are attracted to Cannabis.  There is a lengthy article on Bee Culture called Bees and Cannabis that states:  “The cannabis plant is mostly wind pollinated and therefore has not evolved to attract bees. It does not produce a smell that would attract bees, nor is it colorful and finally, and most importantly, it is unable to provide a reward in the form of floral nectar. As those familiar with Apis mellifera know, it is nectar and not pollen that is required by bees to make honey. But the male plant does provide pollen in some circumstances. The existing scholarly article on the topic (Dalio, J.S., 2012) notes that cannabis pollen seems to be a food of last resort for bees. The author notes that bees (in India where the observations occurred) turned to cannabis plants as a source of protein but only visited male plants during times of dehiscence when the male plant’s reproductive organs released pollen and that bees were only interested in that pollen during a pollen dearth.”

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