Rusty Burlew wrote a great description of how the bees get the pollen into the basket in a recent post on her blog. The pollen basket is filled from below so when pollen collection has only just started the pollen is at the bottom of the tibia.
As the basket fills it holds a surprising amount of pollen without the pellet falling off. I wonder how she knows when it's full?
Honey bees and some solitary bees exhibit flower constancy, that is each bee pretty much sticks to one type of flower at a time. That is confirmed by finding only one colour in the pollen basket.
Bumblebees are more likely to visit different types of flower on one visit, as is easy to see from the multicoloured pollen in their pollen baskets.
So is the pollen under a translucent membrane we can see the colour through?
ReplyDeleteNo Phil, there is no membrane. It is just pollen. Although pollen is produced in individual grains, when they cover the bee's body she scrapes them all to her hind legs and then uses the joint to squeeze them into a pollen pellet. Have look at http://www.honeybeesuite.com/how-the-honey-bee-makes-pollen-pellets/ for a full description. I suppose it's a bit like snowflakes being made into a snowball. The pellet is held in place by the hairs around the edge of the pollen basket that look a bit like a comb (as you can see on the last photo above) and I guess it may also stick onto the smooth surface of the tibia. It looks precarious but it works.
DeleteAn amazing, colourful and interesting collection of photos. Obviously a perfect design for the task in hand.
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos - thank you. What is your opinion of the commercial collection of bee pollen? Does it harm the bees? Does it dprive them of essential nutrition?
ReplyDeleteI don't collect pollen from my bees. I suppose it is a bit like honey harvesting - if the bees have more than enough and it is done in moderation (only a day or two at a time on a hive) it probably doesn't do them any harm.
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