Hive Provider. Apis mellifera, Honeybee, on African Daisy, Osteospermum, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
She's spending the last weeks of her life, our Honeybee, foraging for pollen for the well-being of the hive. Before this she was a hive worker for a couple of weeks, feeding the larvae and generally cleaning up. Also 'chemically' extracting the nutrients from the pollen delivered by her older companions, and dumping the leftover debris.
As a forager herself now she won't partake of the pollen she's collecting because her system no longer has the enzymes necessary to access those nutrients.
Honeybee is delighting on an African Daisy, an Osteospermum in the Hortus Botanicus.
Hive Provider. Apis mellifera, Honeybee, on African Daisy, Osteospermum, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
She's spending the last weeks of her life, our Honeybee, foraging for pollen for the well-being of the hive. Before this she was a hive worker for a couple of weeks, feeding the larvae and generally cleaning up. Also 'chemically' extracting the nutrients from the pollen delivered by her older companions, and dumping the leftover debris.
As a forager herself now she won't partake of the pollen she's collecting because her system no longer has the enzymes necessary to access those nutrients.
Honeybee is delighting on an African Daisy, an Osteospermum in the Hortus Botanicus.