Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Pollination and Flower Structure02:40

Pollination and Flower Structure

Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Male bumblebees sustain mate-seeking by adjusting foraging to environmental conditions.

Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology·2026
Same author

A novel method for testing the impacts of pesticide exposure on soil-nesting insects: a case study using the ant Lasius neoniger and the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid.

Environmental toxicology and chemistry·2026
Same author

Synaptic high-frequency jumping synchronises vision to high-speed behaviour.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Aversive memory and extinction learning for noxious stimuli and aversive tastants in bumblebees.

The Journal of experimental biology·2026
Same author

Anthropogenic stressors drive microbiome assembly: A global meta-analysis of bumble bees.

The Science of the total environment·2026
Same author

The audience shapes the information content of the honey bee waggle dance.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Tactile Conditioning And Movement Analysis Of Antennal Sampling Strategies In Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)
10:14

Tactile Conditioning And Movement Analysis Of Antennal Sampling Strategies In Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Published on: December 12, 2012

Pollen foraging: learning a complex motor skill by bumblebees (Bombus terrestris).

Nigel E Raine1, Lars Chittka

  • 1School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK. n.e.raine@qmul.ac.uk

Die Naturwissenschaften
|December 7, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) require extensive flower visits to learn effective pollen foraging. Overnight retention of these learned pollen foraging skills appears imperfect.

More Related Videos

A 3D Printed Pollen Trap for Bumble Bee (Bombus) Hive Entrances
07:19

A 3D Printed Pollen Trap for Bumble Bee (Bombus) Hive Entrances

Published on: July 9, 2020

Radio Frequency Identification and Motion-sensitive Video Efficiently Automate Recording of Unrewarded Choice Behavior by Bumblebees
09:09

Radio Frequency Identification and Motion-sensitive Video Efficiently Automate Recording of Unrewarded Choice Behavior by Bumblebees

Published on: November 15, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Tactile Conditioning And Movement Analysis Of Antennal Sampling Strategies In Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)
10:14

Tactile Conditioning And Movement Analysis Of Antennal Sampling Strategies In Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Published on: December 12, 2012

A 3D Printed Pollen Trap for Bumble Bee (Bombus) Hive Entrances
07:19

A 3D Printed Pollen Trap for Bumble Bee (Bombus) Hive Entrances

Published on: July 9, 2020

Radio Frequency Identification and Motion-sensitive Video Efficiently Automate Recording of Unrewarded Choice Behavior by Bumblebees
09:09

Radio Frequency Identification and Motion-sensitive Video Efficiently Automate Recording of Unrewarded Choice Behavior by Bumblebees

Published on: November 15, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Animal Behavior
  • Pollination Biology

Background:

  • Pollen foraging is crucial for bee nutrition and plant reproduction.
  • The learning process and skill retention for pollen collection in bumblebees are not well understood.
  • Flower morphology can influence foraging efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the learning curve for pollen foraging skills in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris).
  • To quantify the time investment required for bumblebees to learn effective pollen collection.
  • To assess the retention of pollen foraging skills over a 24-hour period.

Main Methods:

  • Observing naïve bumblebees foraging on nectarless poppy flowers (Papaver rhoeas) in a controlled greenhouse environment.
  • Quantifying foraging performance by measuring pollen load, number of flowers visited, and bout duration.
  • Relating foraging performance to the changing availability of pollen (pollen standing crop) within flowers.

Main Results:

  • Bumblebees showed increased pollen collection rates over consecutive foraging bouts, indicating a learning process.
  • Learning to forage pollen from simple flowers required significantly more visits than learning nectar extraction from complex flowers.
  • Pollen collection rates and load sizes were lower at the start of the second day compared to the end of the first, suggesting imperfect overnight skill retention.

Conclusions:

  • Learning pollen foraging skills is a substantial time investment for individual bumblebees.
  • Pollen foraging skill acquisition may be more complex and time-consuming than nectar foraging skill acquisition.
  • Imperfect overnight retention of learned pollen foraging behaviors could influence foraging specialization.