I NEED POLLEN AND NECTAR, CAN I CHARGE THAT? THE BUZZ ON FAIRMONT BEES WITH BEE BUTLER MICHAEL KING (AUGUST 2016)

Bees live in a highly charged world!

One amazing ability they have is to both create and sense electricity in the air around them drawing them towards or away from certain sources of food. 

Bees generate an electrical charge around them as they fly and as they collide with microscopically charged particles they generate an increased charge on themselves.

Plants which are connected to the ground by stalk and root systems emit a negative charge which the bee is able to identify as they approach it among the positively charged air around it.

Positive electricity meeting a negative charge creates static electricity and an instant transfer of pollen particles from the plants stamen which jump onto the tiny hairs of the bees body rather like dust jumps onto a statically charged duster. 

As the bee passes by the stamen the pollen is rubbed off onto the bee and as the bee removes the nectar they transfer some of the pollen on their body onto the stigma and the process of germination or fertilization can begin.

The bee takes several seconds to accomplish this task and by the time they leave the plant they have transferred their positive electrical charge to the flower itself and altered the negative charge into one that is slightly positive. This is the secret to ensuring that every bee out there in the world does not have to visit every flower in order to check whether there is nectar and pollen to harvest because from now on for the next several minutes and in some cases several hours, that flower will show an increased electrical charge to every future insect visiting it and this in turn is the signal that tells the next bee that “sorry this flower is not open for business, come back later “!

Bumble bees are just as amazing as they have a special talent when they pollinate tomato plant flowers. A tomato has pollen that is very tightly adhered to the inside of the flower and it will not release itself easily unless a passing insect ‘sings’ to it ! Yes you read it correctly !  when a bumble bee visits the flower it vibrates it’s body as it buzzes on the flower and it matches a musical note known as middle C. When the bee vibrates to this tone the flower releases it’s pollen to the bee and the pollen flies onto the bees fine body hairs it has all over it. In essence a bumble bee ‘sings for it’s supper“.

Next time you observe a bee visiting flowers think of all that is going into that transaction and how amazing it is that we have bees doing just that on our own rooftop thousands of times a day both on our own rooftop garden as well as throughout the downtown core on  patios, gardens, streetside allotments, parks, planter boxes and anywhere where a flower is blooming.

When it comes to bees they really do create a certain ‘magic in the air ‘, it’s called  ‘electricity ‘.

Learn more about our bees at: Fairmont Waterfront Green Hotel Initiatives
For more ‪#‎BeeButler‬ posts visit: Fairmont Buzz on Bees

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