ANSWERS: 1
  • There are three castes of honeybees in a hive: workers, drones and the queen. The bees responsible for pollination are worker bees, which find a source, communicate it to the hive and collect and distribute the pollen.

    Considerations

    Worker bees go on scouting missions in which they fly around and locate potential pollen sources. They are attracted to flowers by their scent, detected via antenna.

    Function

    Upon returning to the hive, workers communicate their findings to the hive by waggling, a bee dance of sorts that tells the hive the direction and distance to the source. Direction is told by the orientation of the waggling bee to the sun during the dance and distance is communicated by the duration of the dance.

    Features

    Using the information provided by the scout, worker bees fly to the flowers. Their movements on the flowers causes pollen to be collected in special storage sacs located on the bees' legs.

    Significance

    When the bees fly away, pollen is dusted throughout the air and on other flowers they land on from their legs, bodies and sacs. The rest of the pollen is stored in tiny granules in the sacs and will be brought back to the hive for nectar and honey-making.

    Fun Fact

    The technical term for the process of honeybee pollination is entomophily.

    Source:

    Cornell: Teacher Resource Guide: Honeybees

    More Information:

    MAAREC: Pollination

    USDA: Colony Collapse Disorder

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