Foraging Plants, Techniques, and Regulation#
1 . What are some of the plants and trees that provide nectar in Georgia?
Maple, sourwood, gall berry, clover, tulip popular, blackberry, tupelo, cotton.
2 . Are red flowers attractive to bees?
No, bees cannot see red, it is not part of their visual spectrum, so red flowers are more attractive for birds, not bees.
3 . How many flowers does a bee need to visit to collect 1 load before returning to the colony? How many trips per day does the forager make?
Up to 500 flowers for 1 trip 10 - 15 trips per day for pollen foragers Nectar foragers may make up to 150 trips per day.
4 . What are the ways bees visit flowers to collect resources?
Open flowers - “scrabbling” – they bite the anthers and pulls them toward her.
Tubular flowers - inserts mouthparts for nectar- pollen is collected inadvertently.
Closed flowers -she forces the pedals apart with her forelegs and gathers pollen on her mouthparts and forelegs.
Spike flowers - bees run along spikes and collects pollen onto her body hairs.
Presentation flowers - she presses her abdomen against inflorescence and a pollen mass comes out and adheres to her body. Pollen packets called “pollinia”.
5 . How is foraging regulated by the colony?
Feedback loop - House bees encourage nectar foragers by immediately taking their load from them. Pollen foraging increases in the presence of eggs and brood Queen pheromones encourage foraging. The colony is an information center where recruits appraise the quality of the nectar based on dancing. Returning foragers are either encouraged or discouraged to continue foraging the same resource based on the eagerness at which they are relieved of their load.