Reply To: Broad Beans

[Hawfinch]

My broad – can’t remember which ones they are – possibly Windsor – are just beginning to flower. The potentially huge problem is, I see next to no bees. A couple of years ago my broad beans produced large empty pods. When I mentioned this on the now defunct Guardian gardening blog, Alan Jenkins thought this might have to with lack of pollination. Any ideas, anyone? Can one pollinate broad beans with a small brush like e.g. melons?