Thistles- The drugs do work?

[ArkAngel]

Hi there

We have some garden (cultivated not wild, sorry don't know the type) thistles.

Is there something in thistles?

We get a number of bee's on them and there is no better description than they seem to be totally doped when they land.
They will sit on the flower heads come rain or shine and compared to any other plant in the garden they just sit there and become very lethargic.

any idea's?

 

[Shewie]

Maybe they're buzzing (sorry) from a high sugar content in the pollen, no idea really just a thought though.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I swear by milk thistle as a hangover cure.

 

[eraaij]

Is there a patch of Cannabis nearby ?

 

[xylaria]

Milk thistle makes other plants more potent when used by herbalists. There also melecolony thistle that was used to treat post natal depression. Bees are very sensitive to phytochemicals.

i have watched bees sit on cardoon for a very long time, I never thought it was them been lazy or stoned. I thought is was to do with the plant been a good shelter. It tended to be solatary bees (big fuzzy bombus) rather than honey bees that I have seen do this. They safer on top of a big spikey flower rather than a warm rock where the birds are going to get them.

 

[Melonfish]

wow, can you imagine honey made by bee's next to a cannabis field?
would the THC cross over? you could sell "Funny Honey" hehe
if he does have cannabis growing in his garden i'd expect a knock from a copper any day, that or students trying to take cuttings

 

[gregorach]

Unlikely, as bees collect pollen and nectar, neither of which contain significant quantities of THC. I'm not sure that cannabis even produces nectar.

 

[xylaria]

Bees don't collect pollen from wind pollenated plants, so they aren't effected by them. Thistle heads are soft and fuffy and I was the size of bee I would quite like sitting on one.

 

[TeeDee]

"Funny Honey",All i can think of is Winnie th Pooh having his hand stuck in a Honey point with such wild abandon.

Guess it would explain Eyeore lack of enthusiasm as well.


Tigger the tiger on MDMA???

 

[Toddy]

Thistle heads are soft, and are literally full of florets all gathered together in one convenient location, too.
What's for a bee not to like ? Great place to have a sit down and still do a bit of feeding

cheers,
Toddy

 

[ForestNH/VT]

We have a clump of globe thistle that grows by our church. When in bloom the bees get so intent at feeding on the nectar that they are blissfully unaware of anything else. They sleep overnight on the underside and feed again as soon as the sun comes up. The children at church love to pet the bees - the bees don't mind at all. So you are not the only one to notice this phenomenon.

Forest

 

[xylaria]

I used to pick up bees and pet them when I was a child. I found if you were calm enough the bee never minded. When we moved to england when I was 5, the english kids would run away if I held a bee. In the village in ireland every kid would pick up bees. The village green was mostly red clover and thistles and I remember running about collecting bees in jars.

The central part of thistles heads taste very good raw, i have found in quite a few large headed members of the daisy family it is very common to find insects hiding deep in the flower head. The behaviour of bees is a very deep subject, you can a spend a lifetime asking why and how they do things, and still never reach a good answer. Of all things you can idley do when outside, watching a bumblebee about its work is one thing that raises the most profound questions of the meaning of life.