Laboratory Bees - Feeding Behavior
In my last post about lab bees, I laid down some essentials about how to care for a hive during winter, and how annoying bee poop is. I also complained that the bees were rather lazy that day. Well, they weren't today! Probably because I was lazy and took care of them around noon instead of in the morning.
After placing the re-pulverized pollen next to the hive, a single bee noticed it and started rubbing it everywhere.
The bee flies back into the hive, to pass on the information via a dance, that indicates distance and direction. Of course, the animal also smells like food1. Pulverized pollen smells ... interesting. Slightly sweet I'd say.
In nature, the food source would, of course, not be located this close, and certainly not in that amount. But what do the bees care? At least they're not required to use landmarks for orientation, as they usually would.2
© Suesa
Soon, more bees started to join. You can see the collecting behavior. The pollen is caught by little hairs on their hind legs, which allows the bees to transport it inside. There, it serves as a food source, together with nectar and honey, at least for the adult worker bees.3
© Suesa
This hive wasn't very lively, especially compared to the second hive in the room.
Why? Well, the second hive is newer, and the bees there are breeding. So there's a lot more bees to feed, and a lot more bees that can collect pollen!
In fact, just the pheromones produced by the brood ( = bee babies) already stimulate the worker bees to collect more pollen4! Smart adaption, really smart.
I filmed the collecting bees for a bit.
© Suesa
As you can see, many of the tiny animals swarm the pollen and fly in and out of the hive.
During filming, I had to keep the net open, which prevents the bees from escaping into the greenhouse (and eventually outside, where they'd freeze and die), which left my phone (and fingers) exposed to potential angry bees.
Luckily, I wasn't stung. I just experienced the shock of my life, when a huge shadow suddenly crawled across the camera ...
© Suesa
Yes, that's a bee. I almost dropped my phone.
One thing that the GIFs can't properly portray is the sheer noise the bees make. But hey, what are videos for?
To me, it sounds a little bit like a horror movie.
Then again, if the bees rise up against us one day, we probably deserved it.
References:
1 Gould, James L. (1974), "Honey bee communication", Nature 252, 300-301
3 Haydak, Mykola H. (1970), "Honey Bee Nutrition", Annual Review of Entomology, Vol 15, pp 143-156
Signature by @atopy
The other day I stumbled on compressed pollen in a supermarket's honey section, and remembered your bee adventure :)
I was really surprised that you can find it in a supermarket, what could you possibly use compressed pollen for?
You put it in your Organic Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free CerealTM each morning, together with some Cruelty-Free, Free-Range ApplesTM and are then cured of all illnesses, never need vaccinations, and never develop cancer.
Duh.
lol XD
They are so beautiful! I'm thinking about having also one or two hives in my new home. For sure the neighbors will not be happy, but they (the bees) will have to adapt to angry people!
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Just offer the neighbors free honey!
That's a lot of bees.
Now I'm thinking of summer. I miss seeing bumblebees.
I've also had plans that if I'll become rich, I'll buy some land and try to turn it into a paradise for insects.
How cool that you're working with bees. I bet these are doing circle dances instead of waggle dances what with the food bring so close. I studied honeybee communication over a couple of summers but we never had to clean up their poop. I'd paint marks on their backs at the feeders and then we'd observe their dances back at the hive.
Do you get to take home any honey?
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chuckles circle dances :D
Yeah, I get to take honey home! There's a lot on the storage room, from several years, so I can even choose what I want (more liquid or more crystallized).
I guess that ants, or whatever that other tiny crawly thing was likes the pollen also. At least if the bees rise up, we will hear them coming.
bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Holy shit, that one crawling over the lens is terrifying. Fuck everything about this. I want to unsubscribe from Bee Facts. but not really
I know you love it :P
Hey, @suesa, you are a woman thinking like a man. You are a genus ànd strong. What if you got stung..... Well, its been said that being stung by bee once in a while is good for the body immune system, how true is that?
"You're a woman thinking like a man" - what the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm a woman, and I'm thinking like a woman.
Getting stung by a bee can actually trigger an allergy against bee stings, which means the next time you get stung you'll suffer from an anaphylactic shock. That risk never vanishes.
So, no, being stung by a bee once in a while is not good for the immune system.
Alright thanks. I will stay away from those creatures........ You are a woman and you will always be. 😂😂😁😁