Broad beans in polytunnel - do I need to self polinate?

[bonniethomas06]

This is the first time I have grown them in the tunnel and as they are now flowering, the thought did occur to me that there aren't any bees in there to do the business.

Is it a little OTT for me to get out there with a paintbrush and pollinate them?

Would be interested to hear what you think. Thanks!

[Odsox]

Yes they do need pollinating, or at least I think they do, but it would be a very time consuming and not to say difficult task to do it by hand.
I grow early broad beans in my tunnel and I always sow them at one end or the other, nearest the door, and have no problem with bees finding them.
I would just make sure to leave the doors wide open from dawn to dusk, I'm sure the bees will find them.

[sarahturner]

I grew mine undercover in pots this year and on sunny, warm days I just moved them out of the tunnel to let the bees have them. It seems to have worked as some of the flowers are turning into little broadbean pods :-)

[grahamhobbs]

I would have thought by now there would be plenty of bees about, so if they can get into to the tunnel you should have no problem. I did try growing broad beans over winter in my tunnel one year hoping for an extra early crop but to no avail, they flowered and flowered and flowered, finally setting at the same time as a row outside, clearly there were insufficient bees around earlier on..

[Green Aura]

We're picking our first of the winter grown broad beans from the tunnel today - no pollinating been done by us (no planting either - they self-set while the polytunnel was out of action last year! ). So I can't see that you'll have a problem. If you're really concerned just leave the door open if it's a nice day.

[bonniethomas06]

Thanks all, that is helpful - maybe I will leave it and hope the bees have done their job.

The doors are practically open all of the time now, as I don't have anything tender in there, and there are lots of annoying little flies buzzing about in the roof - so with any luck they will have brushed past now and again.

Thanks again. I can't WAIT for broad bean rissotto. Mmmmmmm