How bees choose their food

Like any living being, bees need a correct energy supply to fully carry out their biological functions and survive. But on the basis of what do bees select their food ? There are specific plants and flowers to which bees are most attracted when they search for pollen and nectar. Let's find out more about this.

What bees are attracted to

After years of research and studies, it has emerged that bees are attracted to particular shapes and colors. In fact, their sight is not like ours. Bees have no less than 5 eyes, two main and three other ocelli arranged on the upper part of the forehead. These smaller eyes are very useful for bees as they help the insect recognize polarized light and orient itself during flight. In fact, the bees use the position of the sun to orient themselves and the ocelli make it possible to identify the latter even in prohibitive weather conditions and in the event of cloudy skies.

But let's get down to it. Bees, as well as other pollinating insects, distinguish only colors in the range from blue to ultraviolet well. Precisely for this reason, nature has created a surprising method of communication. In evolution, the flower petals have created a system of nanometric ridges which, based on an interference phenomenon, allow insects to notice a very intense blue halo. This does not mean that bees are attracted to blue flowers, but rather that they can perceive a particular bluish halo that is not visible to us humans because it is dominated by the color of the pigment of the petals.

Protecting bees

Currently the food available for bees has undergone a considerable decrease. The cause is mainly attributable to the use of aggressive chemicals in the environment. Intensive agriculture, the use of herbicides and many other factors have inevitably influenced the surrounding environment which has created an increasingly less favorable habitat for bees and above all has significantly reduced the development of specific plants and flowers of which bees they feed.

Protecting bees is important! Their protection is a topic that is touching mankind a lot since the survival of bees on the planet is also a necessary element for our survival. The role of bees in the first place and also of other pollinating insects is vital to ensure the development of food available on Earth. In fact, bees are responsible for about one third of the world's food. Working for their protection is really important, it is no coincidence that there are many requests implemented by beekeepers regarding interventions that can stem the problem.

Food for bees

Bees seem to prefer pollen or nectar from certain plants and flowers over others. The food of bees is very varied but created solely from proteins and sugars of vegetable origin and not animal. Here are the plants and flowers most appreciated by these beautiful insects: Facelia, Calendula, Vetch, Lupinella, Clover, Alfalfa, Coriander, Cumin, Annual Fennel, Parsnip, Dill, Borage, Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender, Sulla, Sunflower, Mallow, Tagete, Buckwheat, Sweet clover.

Colors and shapes that attract bees

Bees use their olfactory as well as visual senses a lot when choosing food. In particular, the antennas allow them to perceive the shape and size of objects. The antennas in fact act as an olfactory sense. For bees, smell is very crucial as it gives them much more information than we think. For bees, for example, a small drop of honey smells completely different from a larger amount of substance.

As far as visual perception is concerned, however, as we have mentioned, the photoreceptors of bees are relatively insensitive to most colors except for tones ranging from blue to ultraviolet.

The colors of the hives

Given the different perception of colors compared to humans, it is also important to properly choose the colors related to the hives . In fact, beekeepers always prefer shades that do not confuse the bees and that are easily perceivable by them. We know very well that red is completely not recommended. The colors that bees distinguish most easily are mainly four: yellow, bluish green, blue and ultraviolet.

Buy queen bees online

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Ours are Italian bees carefully selected and in excellent health. Each product is shipped together with a health certificate that certifies its quality and safety. If you are interested you can buy directly online by accessing the site: www.apicolturalaterza.it