Pollinating Flowering
by Ms Judi
Title
Pollinating Flowering
Artist
Ms Judi
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Bees play an important role in pollinating flowering plants, and are the major type of pollinator in ecosystems that contain flowering plants. Bees either focus on gathering nectar or on gathering pollen depending on demand, especially in social species. Bees gathering nectar may accomplish pollination, but bees that are deliberately gathering pollen are more efficient pollinators. It is estimated that one third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination, most of which is accomplished by bees, especially the domesticated European honey bee.[citation needed] Contract pollination has overtaken the role of honey production for beekeepers in many countries. Monoculture and the massive decline of many bee species (both wild and domesticated) have increasingly caused honey bee keepers to become migratory so that bees can be concentrated in seasonally varying high-demand areas of pollination.
Most bees are fuzzy and carry an electrostatic charge, which aids in the adherence of pollen. Female bees periodically stop foraging and groom themselves to pack the pollen into the scopa, which is on the legs in most bees, and on the ventral abdomen on others, and modified into specialized pollen baskets on the legs of honey bees and their relatives. Many bees are opportunistic foragers, and will gather pollen from a variety of plants, while others are oligolectic, gathering pollen from only one or a few types of plant. A small number of plants produce nutritious floral oils rather than pollen, which are gathered and used by oligolectic bees. One small subgroup of stingless bees, called "vulture bees," is specialized to feed on carrion, and these are the only bees that do not use plant products as food. Pollen and nectar are usually combined to form a "provision mass", which is often soupy, but can be firm. It is formed into various shapes (typically spheroid), and stored in a small chamber (a "cell"), with the egg deposited on the mass. The cell is typically sealed after the egg is laid, and the adult and larva never interact directly (a system called "mass provisioning").
Visiting flowers can be a dangerous occupation. Many assassin bugs and crab spiders hide in flowers to capture unwary bees. Other bees are lost to birds in flight. Insecticides used on blooming plants kill many bees, both by direct poisoning and by contamination of their food supply. A honey bee queen may lay 2000 eggs per day during spring buildup, but she also must lay 1000 to 1500 eggs per day during the foraging season, mostly to replace daily casualties, most of which are workers dying of old age. Among solitary and primitively social bees, however, lifetime reproduction is among the lowest of all insects, as it is common for females of such species to produce fewer than 25 offspring.
Uploaded
August 31st, 2013
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Viewed 1,040 Times - Last Visitor from Cambridge, MA on 04/20/2024 at 5:26 AM
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Comments (17)
Ms Judi
Thank you so much Heidi and Pema for your wonderful comments and promotions! Your comments means a lot to me and I really appreciate your opinion. =)
Ms Judi
Thank you so much Vronja for your wonderful comment and promotion! It means a lot coming from someone how takes amazing photographs Your comment means a lot to me and I really appreciate your opinion. Have a great day. =)
Ms Judi
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment and promotion Zulfiya! I really appreciate your opinion. Have a great day. =)
Randy Rosenberger
Beautiful combo of floral and bumbler, Ms Judi!This lovely piece of art work deserves many accolades, and I hope you get them on our WFS site, as they surely are worthy of high recognition. It is with pride and pleasure that I Feature this beautifully done piece of artwork on our Homepage. Thanks much for sharing your talents and the beauty of your great works. Fave and Vote Forever, Elvis
Ms Judi replied:
Randy...thank you so much for the feature in Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery Group! =)