ENVS 2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Flower Constancy, Nectar, Propolis

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Environmental Sciences
• Course: ENVS 2210
• Professor: Ernesto Guzman

Document Summary

Field bees forage for nectar, pollen, water and propolis. Foraging is a risky job: external dangers and aging. Bees fly to another flower after collecting pollen. Plants have evolved flowers with particular forms, colors and scents. Colours that bees can see (not red), red flowers are attractive to other species like hummingbirds. Many flowers have nectar guides (ultra-violet colored lines) that lead to flower nectaries. Uv lines that guide the bees to encounter the organs that produce either pollen and/or nectar (anthers and nectaries) Bees learn to recognize and forage on a particular flower. Fly in circles around the hive, and make wider and wider circles until they finally find flowers: by being recruited (by a dancing scout bee). Scout bees perform a recruiting dance to convey information to other bees about the location (distance and direction) and quality of the food source.