Posts Tagged: nectar

So Bee It...

The honey bees love it. So do the long-horned bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, European paper...

A honey bee heads toward a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee heads toward a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ah, this Mexican sunflower is all mine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ah, this Mexican sunflower is all mine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It pays to keep a lookout while you're foraging on the ever-popular Mexican sunflower, genus Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It pays to keep a lookout while you're foraging on the ever-popular Mexican sunflower, genus Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey Bees Just Lovin' the Mustard

The things we overlook are the things we should look for. Take mustard and honey bees. You've...

Packing a heavy load of pollen, a honey bee heads for a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Packing a heavy load of pollen, a honey bee heads for a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Touchdown! A honey bee reaches a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Touchdown! A honey bee reaches a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee on top of her world--a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee on top of her world--a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Heading home--a honey bee leaves a mustard patch to share her bounty with her colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Heading home--a honey bee leaves a mustard patch to share her bounty with her colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What You May Not Know About Hummingbirds

Pollinators aren't just bees, butterflies, beetles and bats. They're also birds, like...

Hummingbirds eat insects and insects eat hummingbirds. Here a praying mantis lurks by a hummingbird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hummingbirds eat insects and insects eat hummingbirds. Here a praying mantis lurks by a hummingbird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A hummingbird flies in for a quick burst of energy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A hummingbird flies in for a quick burst of energy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What Attracts Bees to Blossoms? A Surprising Discovery by UC Davis Ecologist Rachel Vannette

You're watching honey bees foraging in a field.  They buzz toward a blossom, sip nectar, and...

A honey bee heads toward a lupine blossom. It's not just the nectar she's scented. UC Davis community ecologist Rachel Vannette has just published a paper in New Phytologist journal that shows nectar-living microbes release scents or volatile compounds, too, and can influence a pollinator's foraging preference. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee heads toward a lupine blossom. It's not just the nectar she's scented. UC Davis community ecologist Rachel Vannette has just published a paper in New Phytologist journal that shows nectar-living microbes release scents or volatile compounds, too, and can influence a pollinator's foraging preference. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Microbial stains (fungi and bacteria) isolated from floral nectar. (Photo by Rachel Vannette)

Microbial stains (fungi and bacteria) isolated from floral nectar. (Photo by Rachel Vannette)

This is the electroantennogram (EAG) assay set-up. (Photo by Bryan Smith, USDA-ARS)

This is the electroantennogram (EAG) assay set-up. (Photo by Bryan Smith, USDA-ARS)

Surprising Research Results: What the Microbes in Nectar Revealed

It's surprising what the microbes in nectar can reveal. Take the nectar of the sticky...

Researchers studied the microbes in the nectar of the sticky monkeyflower, Mimulus auranticus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Researchers studied the microbes in the nectar of the sticky monkeyflower, Mimulus auranticus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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