Electronic
Field Trip to an Orchard
Fruit Trees Need
Bees
You saw in the Field Trip that honeybees
play a critical role in pollinating fruit trees. Flowers
must be pollinated so fruit may form. Orchard owners
turn to honeybees for pollination because they are dependable
pollinators that work in less than ideal conditions and will
continue to revisit the same blooming orchard so the owner
can be certain an adequate number of blossoms have been pollinated.
Bee Anatomy
In the Field Trip, you learned which of
these parts were most critical for pollination. Which
parts are actually involved directly in the pollination of
a flower? Do you remember how? What role do the
pollen baskets play for the bee? Why does the bee fly
from flower to flower? We know that pollinates the flowers,
but what does it do for the bee?
- Branched hairs - hairs
on the thorax which collect small amounts of pollen from
each flower which can be dropped in other flowers visited
by the bee
(pollination)
- Pollen basket - specialized hairs on
the hind legs; the bee deposits pollen here and the hairs
retain the pollen in the shape of a ball for transport
back
to the hive
- Thorax - the bee's "motor," containing
the muscles for its legs and wings
- Abdomen - contains the digestive tract,
heart, and stinger; the glands which produce wax are located
on its underside. The "crop,"
a storage area in the
digestive tract located just prior to the stomach, is located
in the abdomen and bees use it to hold the nectar they
consume for transport back to the hive.
- Legs - movement and manipulation of
pollen
- Wings - flight
- Head - contains the brain and sensory
organs, including compound eyes, antennae, and ocelli
- Antennae -
the bee's "nose," sense
odors in the air and allow the bee to taste things
