Tag: bumblebees

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Bees, what *can’t* they do?

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about bees’ ability to detect the electric fields of flowers. Now, we find even more amazing bee abilities. Apparently, bumblebees can cut into the sides of flowers to burgle nectar from flowers they don’t pollinate. Moreover, they learn this from other bees, mimicking such things as the side … Continue reading Bees, what *can’t* they do?

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Bees see *E*s

Perhaps my favorite thing about the fascinating recent report [1] that bees sense the electric field of flowers, and learn from these electrical cues what flowers to visit, is that reminds me that it’s still possible to do simple, elegant experiments. To test bees’ field recognition, the authors built “E-flowers” consisting of metal and epoxy … Continue reading Bees see *E*s