Honeybees+and+Bumblebees

Honeybees and Bumblebees

 * ~ BACKGROUND ||~ BODY & BEHAVIOR ||~ SENSE OF SMELL ||~ SENSE OF SIGHT ||
 * BEES are the most important pollinators in the world. There are at least 20,000 species of bees and nearly all visit flowers to feed. Bees and the flowers they pollinate evolved together. Each developed special features that make pollination easier. || The main types of bees in the United States are honeybees and bumblebees. Our bumblebees are native insects but honeybees are descendants of bees brought over by early settlers. These two bees are similar in many respects and they compete fiercely for many of the same flowers, both wild flowers and crop plants. We are dependent on bees for the following fruits and vegetables; apples, pears, squash, cantaloupe, avocado,pumpkin, raspberry, watermelon, peach,plum and blueberries.

Bees visit many flowers each day. They gather both nectar and pollen as sources of food. They have medium sized feeding snouts and have to crawl into the flower to get nectar. Many bees use "buzzing" to get the flower to release pollen. The flower only releases pollen when the bee beats its wings at the right frequency, thus only certain bees species can harvest the pollen of specific plant species. || Scent is important to bees. The scent of a flower is important too in bee pollination. When a worker bee returns to the hive, the scent of the flowers visited clings to her body. The other workers detect this scent by means of their antennae and then, guided by the dance of the returning bee (von Frisch,1950) they fly out to seek the same flowers. || Bees can detect the following colors: blue, white, yellow, blue-green, ultra-violet. Bees are also attracted to "showy" shapes. ||

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Referring links: Pollinators