The Frequency and Foraging Behaviour of Honeybees and Bumble Bees on Field Beans in Denmark

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Abstract
Summary An investigation of the occurrence and behaviour of honeybees and bumble bees in field beans in 1969 and 1970 showed that the number and percentage of bees entering the mouths of the flowers (positive visits) was greatest in the afternoons. Early in the flowering period the majority of honeybees collected pollen, whereas later in the season they chiefly collected nectar from the extrafloral nectaries or from holes bitten in the calyx and corolla tube by B. terrestris (negative visits). Bumble bees worked more rapidly than honeybees when making positive flower visits, but were considerably less numerous than honeybees. The pollination value of different types of bee visit is discussed.