02-08-2003, 12:42 AM
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No bees visit Monarda 'Jacob Cline'
In article ,
(Beecrofter) wrote:
(flicker) wrote in message
...
From: tyratree
Does anyone here grow Monarda 'Jacob Cline'? This is the only
variety I've
ever experienced that attracts absolutely NO bees or
butterflies....never in
the three years I've grown it.
Interesting. I used to grow a red-flowered monarda right alongside
one of the
purple ones. The purple one was overrun with bumblebees, the red one,
just as
you describe, untouched. I don't recall the flower size to be
different on the
two plants. I assume it was a color issue; bumblebees always seemed more
attracted to the purples in my garden.
bianca
zone 6-7 Long Island
Bees vision extends up into the ultraviolet spectrum but on the low
end it stops short and they percieve no difference between red and
black.
Many flowers reflect interesting patterns that we cannot percieve in
the UV spectrum and bees see these well.
On a cloudy day bees fix the angle of the sun by the polarization of
UV light filtering through the clouds.
Of course they have had many more millions of years to evolve than us
and can do more with less
I've seen many UV pics of flowers & what seemed to be generally true is
that what bees & moths see may be a lot brighter & gaudier than what we
see, or may be so dark as to be practically invisible to them though very
colorful to us. The flowers that look gaudiest under UV are probably
attempting to appeal to multiple pollinators, while those which are
simple-looking in the UV range are more apt to have a specialist
pollinator & aren't as eager to be mucked with by the wrong insect. Some
few under UV even have glowy parts that look like insects, & a perfume
that attracts pollinators eager to mate rather than gather food, & perform
pollination while trying to Get It On with the flower's sex organs.
I was under the impression that bees (large ones at least, including
honeybees) aren't all that fussy & see pretty much the full range of
flower colors as equally significant. Not so? Any pattern or color at any
spectrum honeybees would either not see at all or intentionally ignore?
-paghat the ratgirl
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/
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