CreditVictoria Roberts
Q. How do bees find the flowers in the container garden on the fourth-floor deck of my city apartment?
A. Foraging bees use the same methods to find nectar and pollen four floors up that they use at ground level.
Honeybees routinely fly two miles from their hives in their search for raw material for honey; it doesn’t require much extra energy to fly several stories up.
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It takes only one scout to report a promising garden to the rest of the hive with a famous waggle dance. The scout relies on its sophisticated eyes, which are tuned to a variety of wavelengths, including ultraviolet color patterns in flowers that are invisible to people.
You’re a Bee. This Is What It Feels Like.
We’re taking you on a journey to help you understand how bees, while hunting for pollen, use all of their senses — taste, touch, smell and more — to decide what to pick up and bring home.
The bees accumulate a positive charge, while the flowers have a negative charge. The interaction between the fields is detected by antennae or sensitive hairs on the body. The electrical field helps bees to recognize pollen-rich blooms and perhaps even to transfer the pollen.
