Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cocoons. Noting this change, house bees begin covering the cells with a mixture
of beeswax and propolis. Now is the time that female varroa mites enter the cells
to parasitize the larvae. (Varroa mites are discussed in the next chapter.)
(4) Several stages of pupating workers are shown here. The wax cappings have
been removed to show the developmental stages. At top left is a pupating worker
nearing maturity, whose eyes have already developed color. At the center of the
bottom row is a worker nearly mature enough to emerge as an adult.
A simplified diagram of the waggle dance, which conveys information on the location of
a food source in relation to the hive and the sun. The actual dances are much more
complicated.
At the same time, the colony must adjust its capability to accommodate this influx of
nectar. Returning foragers will actually recruit nonforagers to become food-storers by
performing what is called the tremble dance.
Coordinating intake and storage as efficiently as possible allows a colony to quickly
exploit as much of a good nectar source as possible. Moreover, it allows the colony to
adapt to a changing environment to best exploit new sources, and it minimizes the time
individual foragers spend searching.
Pollen—Pure Flower Power
Pollen is produced in a flower's anthers as part of the reproductive process. When ma-
ture, the anthers dehisce, shedding their pollen. Individual pollen grains are transferred
to the stigma of a receptive flower, which, depending on the species, can be the same
flower, different flowers on the same plant, or flowers on different plants. Pollen travels
into the female part of the flower—the ovary—and produces the seed and the endo-
sperm surrounding it. (Think of apple seeds and all the rest of the apple surrounding the
seeds as the endosperm.) Pollen transfer is accomplished by wind, moths, butterflies,
