How Do Flowers & Bees Help Each Other?
Bees and flowers have a symbiotic relationship. The bees are dependent on the flowers for food and the flowers need the bees to aid in pollination. Both help the other to survive and reproduce.
Other People Are Reading
-
Nectar
-
Bees have a honey sack that holds the nectar that is taken from the flower. Back at the hive, the nectar is regurgitated and placed into the honeycomb cells. Nectar is the bees' source of carbohydrates.
Pollen
-
Pollen is collected at the same time. It is picked up when the hair on the bees' bodies rubs the male anthers of the flowers and is gathered into pollen sacks on the insect's legs. Pollen, rich in amino acids, is fed to the developing larvae back at the hive.
-
Pollination
-
Not all of the pollen makes it back to the hive. Since the bees visit one flower after another, pollen is rubbed off on the female portion, the pistil, of the next flower visited. Bees revisit the same flowers until the nectar is gone, increasing chances of pollination.
Fertilization
-
Once the bee has brushed the pollen grains onto the pistil, the grain moves down the style, which leads to the ovary. There the ovules, which will become seeds, are fertilized.
Active Periods
-
Bees are most active in the latter part of spring and in the summer. Most plants tend to flower during this period.
Fun Fact
-
Bees cannot see the color red, so rarely visit red flowers. They do see ultraviolet light so they can see patterns on flowers that we cannot.
-
References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Franco
