The Behavior of the Honey Bee in Pollen CollectingCasteel, Dana Brackenridge
Science
The Behavior of the Honey Bee in Pollen Collecting
Casteel, Dana Brackenridge
Honeybee -- Behavior; Pollen
The supply of pollen which is available for the bees varies greatly
among different flowers. Some furnish an abundant amount and present
it to the bee in such a way that little difficulty is experienced in
quickly securing an ample load, while others furnish but little. When
flowers are small and when the bee approaches them from above, little,
if any, pollen is scattered over the bee's body, all that it acquires
being first collected upon the mouth and neighboring parts, of a Very
different conditions are met with when bees visit such plants as corn
and ragweed. The flowers of these plants are pendent and possess an
abundant supply of pollen, which falls in showers over the bodies of
the bees as they crawl beneath the blossoms. The supply of pollen
which lodges upon the body of the bee will thus differ considerably in
amount, depending upon the type of flower from which the bee is
collecting, and the same is true regarding the location upon the body
of a bee of pollen grains which are available for storage in the
baskets. Moreover, the movements concerned in the collection of the
pollen from the various body parts of the bee upon which it lodges
will differ somewhat in the two cases, since a widely scattered supply
requires for its collection additional movements, somewhat similar in
nature to those which the bee employs in cleaning the hairs which
cover its body.
[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Inner surface of the left hind leg of a worker
bee. (Original.)]
GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE POLLEN-COLLECTING PROCESS.
A very complete knowledge of the pollen-gathering behavior of the
worker honey bee may be obtained by a study of the actions of bees
which are working upon a plant which yields pollen in abundance. Sweet
corn is an ideal plant for this purpose, and it will be used as a
basis for the description which follows.
In attempting to outline the method by which pollen is manipulated the
writer wishes it to be understood that he is recounting that which he
has seen and that the description is not necessarily complete,
although he is of the opinion that it is very nearly so. The movements
of the legs and of the mouthparts are so rapid and so many members
are in action at once that it is impossible for the eye to follow all
at the same time. However, long-continued observation, assisted by the
study of instantaneous photographs, gives confidence that the
statements recorded are accurate, although some movements may have
escaped notice.
To obtain pollen from corn the bee must find a tassel in the right
stage of ripeness, with flowers open and stamens hanging from them.
The bee alights upon a spike and crawls along it, clinging to the
pendent anthers. It crawls over the anthers, going from one flower to
another along the spike, being all the while busily engaged in the
task of obtaining pollen. This reaches its body in several ways.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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