Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A tisket, a tasket

OK, so maxing out the ISO gets too grainy. But I'll show this one for the pollen basket. The bees mix the pollen they collect with, well, bee spit, and store it in their comb packed in layers of little disks. Later they mix it with honey to eat and to feed to babies. It's their main source of protein.

6 comments:

  1. Hey, take a look:

    http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/guest-column-lets-hear-it-for-the-bees/?8ty&emc=ty

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've noticed those orange pouches (for lack of the proper term, is that the basket?) while watching bees in the yard. Pollen eh?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Kathi! Fascinating stuff.

    Denise, strictly speaking, it's a concavity in the tibia, surrounded by hairs, into which the pollen is packed, and secured by a single spike-like hair in the middle. So ... yeah, a basket!

    Natashya, very bzzzy!

    Thanks, firball!

    ReplyDelete
  4. "it's a concavity in the tibia, surrounded by hairs, into which the pollen is packed, and secured by a single spike-like hair in the middle." Great sentence! (says this retired medical editor).

    ReplyDelete