Date: March 16, 2016
Source: Queen Mary University of London
Well qualified bumblebees are not
prepared to share their pollinating knowledge with less experienced bees,
according to new research carried out at Queen Mary University of London
(QMUL).
"Like other pollinators, bees face
complex routing challenges when collecting nectar and pollen -- they have to
learn how to link patches of flowers together in the most efficient way, to
minimise their travel distance and flight costs, just like in a traveling
salesman problem," said lead author, Dr Mathieu Lihoreau.
While it often takes them some time to
figure out an optimal route, little research has been carried out into whether
bees' can copy other bees' flower visitation sequences in the field, to improve
their foraging.
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