Bees pollination and the environment
Summary of CyberSTEM presentation
We will be looking at the European honey bee
and an Australian native bee as examples of
pollinators
We will talk about:
1) Scanning electron microscopy
2) Sample preparation
3) Bee form and function
4) Pollination issues
Text and images by the Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis,
University of Queensland, Australia, August 2007
Bees feed at flowers,
gathering nectar and
pollen. How does this
affect pollination?
European honey bee
Apis mellifera
Australian native bee
Trigona carbonaria
Some plants are wind-pollinated (e.g. grasses
including grains) or self-pollinate, but others
require pollen transfer by organisms: beetles;
butterflies; birds; and of course bees.
Almonds and blueberries rely entirely on
pollinators. Other crops set little fruit without:
pumpkin; cherry; kiwi; apple; plum; apricot;
peach…
Mango, cashew, Macadamia, papya also rely on
pollination, as do many native plants.
Reference: Cunningham, S.A., FitzGibbon, F., Heard,
T.A. (2002) The future of pollinators for Australian
agriculture. Australian Journal of Agricultural
Research 53: 893-900.
How do bees pollinate plants?
Do they have specialised
adaptations or structures to assist?
How do they find flowers?
If we look at bees under the
microscope we can answer these
questions
Sample preparation
European
honey bee
Native bee
5 mm
Bees are dried
when dead
then mounted
and coated
with platinum
Sample mounts
The following images are of bees imaged
using using a scanning electron microscope
– electrons provide monochrome images.
Please refer to the separate background
PowerPoint presentation for theory and
background related directly to how scanning
electron microscopes work
Head of a honey
bee
Eye
Antenna
Note hairs occur
even on the eye.
Why so may hairs?
What is special
about the hairs on
bees?
Pollen
Hairs on the head of
a honey bee
Branched hairs
catch pollen
Pollen
A honey bee antenna.
What is the role of the
antenna?
Note the stubby spines
and round plaques –
what is their purpose?
Pollen basket
with some pollen:
honey bee
Hind leg
Eye
Head of a native bee:
Trigona carbonaria
Antenna
What is different
about this bee?
Compare it with the
honey bee head
Hairs on the head
of a native bee
Native bee antenna = the nose
Empty pollen basket on leg of native bee
Full pollen
basket:
native bee
Pollen comb on front
leg of native bee
Leg
Pollen
Wing of native bee
Note hairs
and pollen
Abdomen of
native bee
Note hairs
Pollen clusters from legs of European
honey bees: each contains millions of
pollen grains. Light-based image
What do the different colours tell us?