Learning trips help bumblebees find their way to the best flowersThe bee turns back several times while leaving its favorite flower to determine the location of its next flight
Bumblebee
There are more than 250 known species of bumblebees, and they are distributed mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, New Zealand and Australian Tasmania. Some species of bumblebees are orange, red, or black. One of the obvious (but not unique) properties is the soft nature of bumblebees' hair (long, sleek), called down, which completely covers their bodies.
A recent study showed that large bumblebees can find their way well to the best flower places, unlike smaller bees, which can fly shorter distances with less ability to carry food, as they do not pay special attention to nectar-rich flowers.
Honey bee behavior
The research team relied on examining the behavior of bumblebees during "learning trips", which are trips made by most types of bees, and it was found that they follow the behavior of honey bees, as the bee spends some time looking back several times during the return trip to save the location of the flower.
It may not be widely known that pollinating insects can learn and acquire the skill to choose between flowers, but in fact, bumblebees are distinguished by their selective ability, says Dr. Nathalie Hempel de Ibarra, Associate Professor at the Animal Behavior Research Center at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
And the lead researcher added: When leaving the flower, the bee can decide how much effort it will take to remember its location, and the surprising result that we came to from our study is that the size of the bee determines the process of making that decision, and the learning behavior that will be applied to it.
The effect of the size of the bee
The study team resorted to observing the behavior of the bees, within a restricted environment, during their trips to artificial flowers containing a sugar solution "sucrose" in different concentrations. The researchers discovered that the larger the bee, the more diverse its learning behavior, based on the proportion of the sugar solution.
It was also found that smaller bees spend the same amount of effort to learn the location of artificial flowers, without regard to the concentration of the sugar solution in specific flowers, whether high or low.
Circular educational trips
De Ibarra explained that “bees seeking food can remember important sites, such as a flower that contains a large proportion of nectar, by making elaborate circular educational trips at the site of the flower, and as it leaves it turns back several times to look at Her favorite flower and surroundings, which helps her remember where the flower is when returning on her next food-gathering trip.
And she continues: We were interested in understanding how bees make their decisions about how much effort they put into their learning journey. Our assumption was that after absorbing a solution of sucrose at a certain concentration, the bee would make a decision about how long it would take to fly around the flower, and how often you would turn to look at it. .
And unlike honeybees, bumblebees do not communicate with each other about the locations of flowers, so each bee makes its own decision during its journey to collect food.
The effect of a solution of sucrose
On this, De Ibarra said: When observing the behavior of bees on their first visit to artificial flowers, we discovered that the rate of bee turning to the flower site was higher whenever the flower contained a higher concentration of sucrose solution.
She added: In our second experiment, we took into account the size of the bee as a factor when studying its behavior. Because body size is important in the division of labor among bumblebees, the young are interested in working in the nests, while the adults are interested in gathering food.
She explained that it was not known in the past whether the size of the body also affects the decision-making process of the bee, whether in relation to learning trips or gathering food, adding that "the young and old bumblebees involved in transporting food behave differently according to the proportion of nectar in the flower." .
Interesting facts about bumblebees:
the size
Bumblebees can be anywhere from ¾ to 1 inch in length.
the description
The whole body of a bumblebee is covered with yellow and black bristles (respectively). A bumblebee has 2 pairs of membrane wings and 3 pairs of legs. The legs are designed to collect pollen.
Bees use their sense of smell to reveal flowers rich in nectar. The sense of smell falls on the antennas of his head. Bees produce buzzing sounds from the vibration of the muscles used to fly. These muscles increase the body temperature and facilitate the way pollen is collected.
Diet
Bees eat the pollen and nectar they collect from various flowers. It produces a tiny amount of honey that is used as food for young bees.
Life and mating
Bees live in a community of up to 400 people. It is divided into three groups: the queen, the maids, and the drones. Workers develop from eggs during the spring. They collect pollen and feed the newborn bees. Drones develop from eggs during the summer, while they die immediately after fertilization.
Hibernation of the queen takes place during the winter and they begin to lay eggs in the spring. It lays 8-12 eggs at a time. Young bees appear after 21 days.
Bees undergo complete submission to the following stages (bees go through four stages in which they develop from egg to adult). The eggs need to pass through these stages before becoming a full-fledged insect.
Bees live in nests in the ground or made from piles of leaves. They can also be used as abandoned nests of birds or mammals. The bumblebee is much appreciated by the bee groups because they pollinate plants that are used in human food. Bees pollinate plants such as apples, cherries, tomatoes, cotton, and mustard. . Often, bees are attracted to the blue and purple flowers.
Age
Age depends on the type of bumblebees. Planes die immediately after childbearing. Workers can survive for two months. While the queen lives for one year.
Bees produce honey, which is beneficial to humans, and it has types, including Sidr honey and Kashmiri honey, both of which are produced by bees, and God Almighty said (there is a cure for people).
