Do bees like ......

[flossy]

   Do bees favour blue when looking for pollen ?

   They certainly like to hang around my compost bags [ very blue ]  and favour my blue work bench.

   Also had masses of them on my lavender last year,   and they used to give us big agro when

   we had blue based sun loungers covers . !

  --   think I might hang some blue discs on my runners ?

   floss xxx

[flossy]

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've never heard that they're attracted by blue, but they like dirty water. Is there any of that on the bags?

[saddad]

Bees do register at the blue/ultra vioet end of the spectrum... they are red-blind.  :-\

[Digeroo]

Runner beans have got it all wrong then. 

[saddad]

No, just because we see the red doesn't mean they aren't attractive in the ultra-violet spectrum...  :-X

[Digeroo]

Still there are lots and lots and lots of bees on the Phacelia and none on the beans.   Somehow need to persuade the bees to go for the beans.  I once caught a bee and shut it up for an hour with a bean flower to see if I could fix it on beans.

They also seem to be interested in the courgettes.

[flossy]

  This is interesting and thanks for the input , some time ago I watched a programme where

   they put differant coloured papers on a plate --  like a flower ?

   Can't remember what the result preference was -- doh !     Do know that birds see a

    different colour spectrum to us and that is how they find food   ---   is it in ultra violet ?

    After all the rain don't reckon it's dirty water RB,  but a point there .

    floss xxx

   

[saddad]

Don't know about birds... was setting Q's for a quiz on another gardening forum and di a round on bees... looked them up on the internet...  :-*

[flossy]

  Thanks saddad, do use the internet but would rather get the expert info from

  A4A peeps like you,       ;D

  That must have been something, compiling a Quiz on bees !      Can you pose a few

   Questions our way ?

   floss xxx

[Robert_Brenchley]

Still there are lots and lots and lots of bees on the Phacelia and none on the beans.   Somehow need to persuade the bees to go for the beans.  I once caught a bee and shut it up for an hour with a bean flower to see if I could fix it on beans.

They also seem to be interested in the courgettes.

Phacelia will attract honeybeesbees from a long distance because it's a fabulous nectar source. They're not interested in runners since they can't reach the nectar, and there's no pollen for them either. Bumblebees pollinate these as they have longer tongues.

[Toadspawn]

As far as I am aware bees do not see colours in the way we see them but differences are registered on the UV spectrum. They are attracted to flowers if there is a good supply of nectar and pollen. Honey bees tend to work one type of flower until the nectar and pollen cease to be produced whereas bumble bees are indiscriminate feeders and visit numerous flowers. Honey bees are light in weight, have short tongues and are only able to get pollen and nectar from smaller flowers and those with short corolla tubes and open flowers. Bumble bees are heavier and can open the closed flowers of for example legumes (beans). There are also short and long tongued types of bumblebees which are thus able to work different flowers.   

[honeybee]

We have recently just come back from Kefalonia, Greece and there, all of the bee hives are either blue or yellow, when I asked why they were those colours I was told that they believed that bees can only recognise those two colours.
I am not sure there is much truth in that, but it was interesting to hear the Greeks beliefs all the same.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Varying the appearance in a way the bees can see does make sense. It makes it easier for the bees to recognise their own hive, otherwise you find that they tend to drift towards the end hive in a row.

[thifasmom]

Varying the appearance in a way the bees can see does make sense. It makes it easier for the bees to recognise their own hive, otherwise you find that they tend to drift towards the end hive in a row.

really, why? ???

[Robert_Brenchley]

They sometimes seem to head for the nearest hive as they approach. I don't think any research has ever been done, but it's well known behaviour, and varying the appearance of hives is one way to minimise it.

[thifasmom]

hmm thanks. you really learn something new every day :).

[Kea]

No, just because we see the red doesn't mean they aren't attractive in the ultra-violet spectrum...  :-X

Yes Saddad is correct, we studied this in plant physiology, ground up flowers extracting pigments and testing the light spectrum's.

[Digeroo]

Phacelia will attract honeybeesbees

My phacelia is covered in bumble bees, no sign of any honey bees.  I think we need to pursuade someone to take up bee keeping.

Have been reading a bit more about runner beans, get the thought that the red is to attract humming birds.  Unfortunately there do not seem to be many around.

[saddad]

Well Runners are from the rainforest "tropics"...  :-\