Pollination is a Two Way Street to the Delight of Bees and Flowers
Bees transport pollen grains from the male anther of one bloom to the female stigma of another, allowing fertilization to take place. This transfer of pollen, called pollination, makes it possible for plants to form seeds and perpetuate their species. Without such pollinators, many flowering species would be unable to bear fruit or reproduce.
As beekeepers, Pete and I love to watch our bees bring back the pollen to their hives. Some of them fly so slowly and bouncy when they are overloaded!
Seeing the different colors of the pollen our bees carry back makes us so happy because we know they are doing well and will have lots of food to eat.
Flowers and bees have coevolved over millions of years into an intricate, interdependent relationship centered around pollination. Bees seek out flowers to gather the sugary nectar and protein-rich pollen that they use for food.
In return, bees and other pollinators inadvertently carry pollen from flower to flower, allowing plants to reproduce. This partnership is essential for the survival of bees, pollinating insects, and flowering plants.
What Would Happen Without Bee Pollination?
If bees disappeared, there would be profound impacts on ecosystems worldwide. Some plant species cannot reproduce at all without insect pollinators like bees to transfer pollen.
Around 75% of the world's flowering plants are estimated to rely on animal pollination. Several agricultural crops also require bee pollination, including apples, almonds, blueberries, cherries, and squash.
Without bees to spread pollen, many species of flowering plants would fail to produce seeds and fruits and would eventually die out.
How Do Bees Help Pollinate Flowers?
Bees have physical traits and behaviors uniquely suited for gathering and dispersing pollen. Their fuzzy, static-charged bodies attract and trap pollen grains as they crawl over flower anatomy, gathering nectar.
Special pollen baskets on their hind legs, called corbiculae, allow them to carry large pollen loads from bloom to bloom.
As bees probe many plants and flowers for food, pollen grains get transferred between blossoms, fertilizing plants so they can form fruits and seeds.
Some bee species and insects are “floral specialists,” meaning they only gather pollen and nectar from one type of flower. Having a preference for certain flowers makes them efficient pollinators for those plant species.
Whether it is honeybees, moths, or butterflies who transfer pollen from one flower to another, it all works the same way.
What Is the Pollination Process?
Successful pollination relies on bees physically moving pollen grains from a flower’s male anther to its female stigma. Anthers are the tips of stamen – slender stalks in the center of flowers that produce pollen.
The stigma is a sticky surface on the tip of the pistil, connected to the ovules (immature seeds) contained in the ovary below. When bees gather nectar and pollen from a flower, some pollen sticks to their bodies and gets deposited on the stigma as they crawl around.
Once on the stigma, pollen tubes grow down through the pistil's style to reach and fertilize the ovules, allowing them to develop into seeds to grow the next generation.
We notice our bees tend to collect nectar from flowers, a single source they choose to gather from, when the bloom is lush.
When rosemary is flowering, they will only visit rosemary until the supply is depleted. It may not be one of our native plants out here, but it is so abundant and blooms for 2-3 months!
How Do Flowers Attract Bees?
Flowers have many adaptations to make them appealing places for bees to frequent and inadvertently transport pollen. Bright colors like yellow, purple, blue and ultraviolet patterns serve as visual cues, guiding pollinators like bees straight to flowers’ nectar rewards.
Special scents from fragrant compounds also attract pollinators. Nectar itself provides the sugary nutrition that fuels bees for their demanding work.
Flowers further influence bee behavior through shapes strategically to secure pollen deposits and transfer during visits.
Some flower species also offer nutritious pollen as additional enticement. By evolving such irresistible features, flowers help ensure bees will come calling frequently to distribute their pollen.
The Co-evolution of Bees and Flowers
Scientists recognize bees and flowering plants as one of the clearest examples of coevolution. This describes how two species adaptively evolve together, each responding reciprocally to changes in the other over time.
Flowers diversified and specialized their visual displays, rewards stores, and anatomy to better meet the needs of pollinators like bees.
Meanwhile, bees developed tools like branched body hairs, pollen baskets, and color perception precisely for gathering floral resources.
This interdependent, reciprocal evolution helped drive the rise of extraordinarily diverse species of both bees and flowers across Central and South America, where their relationship originated over 100 million years ago before spreading globally.
Bees Specialize on Different Flowers
There are over 20,000 species of bees globally, including honey bees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, sweat bees, cuckoo bees, and more. Many bees have evolved close relationships with particular flowering plants.
Specialist bees like squash bees, for example, are only found gathering nectar and pollen from cucurbit crops like squash, pumpkin, and cucumber, where their pollination increases fruit production.
Other examples include the alfalfa leafcutter bee for pollinating alfalfa, the blueberry bee for pollinating blueberry bushes, and the orchard mason bee for fruit tree pollination.
Such specialization helps enable efficient pollination essential for these crops.
Threats Facing This Vital Partnership
The pollination partnership between bees and flowers is under threat due to multiple environmental stressors. Bee populations are declining due to many factors, all of which there is no quick fix.
Intensive agriculture has removed the diverse native flowering habitats that bees rely on. Warming trends are disrupting seasonal connections between bees and flowers.
These threats risk destabilizing plant-pollinator relationships that much of life and human food systems depend on.
Protecting bees and preserving diverse floral resources are key to sustaining this pollination partnership.
Gardening to Support Bees and Flowers
People can help defend the vital pollination partnership between bees and flowers right in their own backyard gardens. Choosing a variety of region-specific wildflowers, heirloom plants, herbs, and bee-friendly trees provides diverse, abundant forage year-round to support bees.
Reducing or eliminating pesticide use protects bee health. Features like small brush piles, water dishes, undisturbed soil areas for nesting, and overwintering bee boxes also boost populations.
Such actions invite bees to come pollinate our own gardens while sustaining future generations of plants and bees.
Gardening with your children and teaching them the importance of bees and how bees are essential to our own lives will give the next generation knowledge and the desire to help save the bees.
Whether we realize it or not, our lives depend on the ancient bond between bees and flowers. Understanding their wondrous pollination partnership reveals how intricately nature works to sustain itself.
Supporting bees and plant diversity helps us cultivate resiliency and reciprocity in a changing world. Our gardens, crops, and wild habitats will flourish as we nurture this vital codependence between two indispensable partners – the bee and the blossom.
Betsy and Pete
Las Vegas, Nevada
About Us: The Authors
We're Betsy and Pete, passionate Las Vegas beekeepers trained by a master in the field. With hundreds of successful bee and bee swarm removals under our belts, we're not just experts; we're enthusiasts committed to the well-being of these incredible pollinators.
We manage dozens of beehives, both natural and honey-bearing at our Joshua Tree Preserve.
Our Commitment to Excellence
Education is an ongoing journey, especially in a dynamic field such as beekeeping. That's why we continually update our knowledge base, collaborate with other experts, and stay up to date with the latest advancements in bee control methods and beekeeping practices.
We also provide top-tier beekeeping supplies, offering everything a beekeeper needs, from beginners to experts.
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