The mystery of the blue flower: the cryptic blue flowers signal to the bees and help locate nectar (the bee's food) * The Honey Council: Research on the honey bee and pollination has been expanded worldwide due to great concern following their massive disappearance
Spring is already here and the multitude of nature's flowers are blooming. Blue pigment is rare in nature and few are the blue flowers, precisely to them humans and also the pollinating honey bees are attracted. According to research, animals and plants produce blue pigment, when it brings them an advantage, mainly in attracting bees or other insects and pollinators.
In a study reported by Australian researcher Adrian Dyer (Associate Professor, RMIT University) On "The Conversation" website It was found that the lack of blue flowers in nature is partly also due to the limitations of human vision, since from the bee's point of view, bluish and attractive flowers are much more common than we see in the human color spectrum. A person sees a certain color, due to the way the eyes and brain work. The human visual system usually includes three types of light receptors each of which captures light at different wavelengths (red, green and blue) from the visible spectrum, the human brain compares information between these receptors to create color perception.
According to evidence in human history, it was found that man has always been attracted to the color blue. An ecological explanation for this is the color of the clear sky and clean bodies of water, which are signs of good living conditions.
The roots of the blue color lie in ancient Peru, where indigo blue was used to dye cotton fabric about 6000 years ago. Indigo blue dye came to Europe from India in the 16th century and the dyes and the plants that produced them became important commodities. His influence on fashion and human culture is felt to this day, including in the fashion of blue jeans. Renaissance painters in Europe used ground 'lapis lazuli' stones to produce works of art. The Virgin in Prayer by the Italian painter Sassoprato, from about 1650, emphasizes the rare blue color, made of 'lapis lazuli' stones. Also, the ancient Egyptians were fascinated by blue flowers such as the blue lotus and used a synthetic pigment (known today as 'Egyptian blue') to paint vases and jewelry and with precious blue gems to decorate the tombs of angels such as the Tut Anach' Amun mask. Today many blues are created with modern synthetic pigments or optical effects. For example the photo of the optical illusion dress, which went viral in 2015 asking what do you see? Blue or gold? Showing that blue can still fascinate, it also highlights that color is as much a product of our perception as it is of certain wavelengths of light.
In another study to study blue flowers, a new online plant database was used, which reviews the relative frequency of blue flowers compared to other colors - among the pollinating flowers, without the intervention of bees or other insects (called abiotic pollination), there were no blue flowers. When we looked at flowers that must attract bees and other insects, in order to transfer their pollen, in isolated areas, blue flowers were observed.
This fact proves that blue flowers are evolving to allow for effective pollination, but blue flowers in nature are still relatively rare, indicating that it is difficult for plants to produce blue color and may be a valuable marker of plant survival ability in the environment.
In other studies done, it was found that the blue flowers produce nectar at a greater rate and therefore receive more visits (per unit of time) from pollinating bees, hence the bees are able to associate the color of the flower with the amount of reward it offers (the amount of nectar). Bees have photoreceptors that are sensitive to ultraviolet, blue and green wavelengths, and they also show a preference for "bluish" colors.
The bees tend to visit the flowers at the bottom of the peduncle first and then move upwards. This combination between the activity pattern of the bees and the differences in the amounts of nectar between the colors of the flowers increases, according to the studies, the chance of finding nectar-rich flowers.
When looking at species that are pollinated by bees and insects, blue flowers account for less than 10% and for flowers that use wind pollination, there are no blue flowers at all. The ability of flowering plants to produce blue colors is related to the intensity of land use, including human-induced factors such as artificial fertilization, grazing and mowing that reduce the frequency of blue flow.
Based on all the findings, it can be learned that in habitats and agricultural areas where beehives are placed, it is recommended to plant an effective variety of cryptic plants with a blue hue, for the benefit of preserving the honeybees and a better sustainable future. This way the honey bee will be able to locate food efficiently and maintain the health of the hive.
As mentioned, a third of man's food depends on honey bee pollination and global populations of bees are in decline, for various reasons climate change, lack of nectar plants and other factors caused by man.
Ofi Reich, CEO of the Honey Council says: "The senses of the honey bee have always amazed researchers around the world, this important article explains the high ability of bees to locate, based on color, the nectar of flowers and collect food more efficiently and especially sophisticated. In the last decade, research in universities and professional institutes in the world in the field of the bee industry has been expanded and many budgets are invested, with the aim of discovering how to help the most important pollinator in the world, to continue to carry out its work in pollinating the agricultural plants that produce food for humanity and animals and to save it from extinction, due to the disappearance of about a third of the bee population in the world," he notes Reich.
According to the data of the 'Honey Council', today there are approximately 510 beekeepers operating in Israel who take care of 120 hives, of which 80,000 hives are placed in agricultural growing areas and are used for pollination.
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