Your second question is closer to how it's done. Since honeybees carry pollen back to the hive on their hind legs in something called a 'pollen sack' (an expandable membrane attached to the back legs), the trick is to get them to release it from this pollen sack as they enter the hive area proper. We use what is called a 'pollen trap'. This is done by typically having them cross through a barrier (usually, wire or plastic) which is just the correct spacing to allow the width of a normal bee body to pass but not so wide as to allow one with bulging pollen sacks to pass through. Thus the workers "unload" their pollen sacks at this location and the little balls of pollen fall into the 'collector' of the pollen trap (a drawer-type affair). The main thing that makes pollen expensive is that it's labor intensive to get clean enough for human consumption. As the pollen falls into the trap's drawer, so does other debris from the hive. There are various pollen trap designs to keep the debris from getting into the trap's collector and various methods for cleaning pollen once it's collected but none are 100% successful. So usually it has to be "sorted through" visually and the pollen separated from the trash - this is what makes it so time consuming. And the last point I'll make is that you can't just continue to collect pollen indefinitely. The bees need it for food so you can't collect 100% of all the pollen coming into the hive or it will starve the hive. The bees need it to raise their young. Most pollen traps have a way to kinda turn them on and off (i.e., either collect the pollen or let the bees pass through without collecting the pollen) so the hive won't be without it's necessary supply of pollen. Most pollen is collected during the Spring and perhaps a little in the Autumn - usually at two or three week intervals.

I think what you are seeing is possibly a slight language barrier, coupled with the use of technical terminology, so I wouldn't count out the advice or musings of anyone quite yet. :-) I do believe that some of our posters reside in other areas of the world... such as Europe, or on other continents... and there may be a slight loss or change of meaning through translation. What I do is assume that everyone posts in a friendly manner, and if I don't quite understand something said, it's either due to a difference in language, or a difference in technical knowledge. English used in America is very difficult to master, and it's filled with slang and different placement of the various sentence parts. And since we can't see the gestures or expressions of our fellow posters, we can only guess at "how" they meant something. Some of us speak in more technical terms, and some use more common wording. I'll be the first to admit that some of the more technical language is lost on me, which is why I lean toward the more common terms. But once you go deeper into the technical and scientific aspects of plant husbandry and breeding, you'll be using those same terms and the barrier you detect now won't exist. I think Hans is only giving you a "heads up" so you won't be too disappointed if your breeding doesn't "take". He has a lot of experience in such areas, and although it doesn't hurt to try something that is known to fail for others, I think he's only trying to share his knowledge and spare you any disappointment. Go easy on us old-timers, please! :-) We each have a lot to offer through our individual experiences, and our differing opinions formed over time. The best course of action is to take what you can use from the various postings, and leave the rest. Often, it's by sifting through such information and opinions that we discover a new outlook that we hadn't previously thought about! As example, I grow things completely differently than quite a few other posters, but it was only through their shared ideas that I was prompted to search further... so, in reality, I have them to thank for pushing me to learn more! While the underlying basics of plant husbandry remain the same, there are numerous variables when it comes to individual environment, methodology, and the genetic heredity of a plant, itself. So, while something works for one grower, it may not be possible for another grower to duplicate. And this is why everyone's shared information has some merit.

Andy, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain..... ;-) There isn't anything formally written about which traits are dominant or recessive in broms. A lot of it you just have to learn by trial and error, but it certainly doesn't hurt to ask questions of those who have tried it. You can also use the FCBS databases for research, i.e. do a search for all hybrids with a certain seed parent or pollen parent to see what types of traits are passed on most often. I find that very helpful. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a thousand pictures....... well, you get the idea. Briefly, however: "big neo with small neo" - Larger generally dominates. Results usually fall somewhere between the two, but more often leaning towards the larger end, and sometimes can be even larger than either parent. I don't think I've ever seen an offspring smaller than either parent. "stoloniferous vs not stoloniferous" - Not stoloniferous tends to dominate, or at least pull the other one way back. Some stoloniferous species are better at passing the trait on than others, though, and it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the comparative length of their stolons. "Do some traits tend to follow female vs male genetics?" Do you mean that certain traits would be more likely passed on by seed parent rather than pollen parent, or vice versa? Apart from variegation, I haven't found that to be the case. I've done a number of crosses both ways and the results have generally been pretty similar. If there is a size disparity, however, I find that it is often easier to use the smaller one as seed parent, just because of the relative size of the floral parts and the shorter distance the pollen has to travel to get to the ovary. Of course that one may not be as receptive to pollen as the other one, so if you're not sure, try it both ways just in case one doesn't work.

Hi Fran, Learning how to do simple hand pollination is a good idea in order to increase seed production and to enjoy doing your own crosses or to insure that a particular cultivar is self-pollinated to prevent unwanted crosses. The easiest way to insure that a Morning Glory is pollinated is to push the anthers (after the pollen has been released) with the fluffy looking pollen up against the stigma so that pollen adheres to the usually slightly sticky surface of the stigma...if the anthers are at the same height as the stigma or slightly higher than the stigma , the pollination is easily achieved...(but if the anthers are much below the stigma or much higher than the stigma then simply using some object to simply push the anthers onto the stigma will not work and you will have to try another method...) You can use a small artists brush to tranfer the pollen from the anther to the stigma within a flower,or between different flowers... The brush should be able to perform 2 functions well a) pick up the pollen b) release the pollen I have found that the cheap brushes which are made out of synthetic material do not pick up or release pollen very well...cotton swabs are excellent at picking up pollen,but are very reluctant to release it and you are likely to to damage to the surface of the stigma by abrading (or bruising ) it with a cotton swab in the process of trying to get the pollen to be released... The brushes that work the best are made out of natural hair and pick up the pollen and release it very well...a very good brush is usually about $5 to $10 but worth it...you can find high quality brushes that are excellent for pollen work at an artists or high quality craft supply store...a quick wipe will clean the brush of pollen... The other method that I use to hand pollinate is grasp the stamen about midway (or lower) with a pair of tweezers and with a quick sharp tug > yank it free...then re-position the stamen so that the anther is facing the stigma and use it like a paint brush to lightly paint the surface of the stigma(s...a very light brushing is usually sufficient and you should be able to see the pollen coming off of the anther and adhering to the surface of the stigma...one very full anther can pollinate several flowers...you don't need to completely cover the stigma with pollen...10 to 15 good pollen grains is usually very sufficient...more than that is usually a waste of good pollen... The pollen will sprout and produce a pollen tube which will penetrate the specialized pollen tube transmitting tissue and make it's way to the ovary and on to the the ovules and if all goes well,the fertilized ovule will ripen into a seed... Morning Glories can only accommodate up to about 25 pollen tubes in total,so if the 25th pollen tube for whatever reason does not fertilize the ovules,no further pollen tubes will be enabled and any additional pollen placed onto the stigma is realistically wasted... The pollen transfer is best done as soon as the anthers have released the pollen (i.e., dehisced )and this may be very early in the morning,although some flowers may not release the pollen until mid-morning or sometimes later in the day... Hand pollination is best done when it is not too hot and not too cold...not too dry and not too wet...pollen which has been rained on is worthless... Pollen can be stored in a cool,dry place,on a non-absorptive surface(like glass,plastic or waxed paper) after being dried in the sun for about an hour or so...pollen so prepared will remain viable for a couple of months...pollen can also be frozen,but will loose a certain amount of vigor... Flowers which have been hand pollinated can be protected by any further unwanted pollination by covering them in something to prevent other pollinators from accessing the inner flower e.g., like a small piece of muslin with a tie string to tighten below the flower base... Hand pollination is actually very easy and can be mastered with just a little practice... Check out the photo link posted and click onto the contents at the top of the photo page to view more from Dr.Yoneda's wonderful online asagao book... There it is...(!) Hope the suggestions are helpful... Talk to you... Ron Here is a link that might be useful: Pistil and Stamen Closeup in Morning Glory Beginners Guide