What Bees See

What attracts them to flowers? Iridescence! – We know what blind people see in their dreams, but what do bees see?why do they zoom in on certain nectar-rich flowers and ignore others? It?s not just the colors they?re attracted to, it’s their shimmering iridescence.

In the January 2nd edition of the Independent, John von Radowitz explains that bees can see colors and “landing strip” markings on flowers that are invisible to us. One of the things that attracts them the most is a pearly luminescence of the kind that we can see in an oil slick on a highway. CDs are another example of a man-made iridescent item. Iridescence depends on surface structure of the petal, so the tones change according to the angle at which the flower is seen.

Radowitz quotes researcher Beverley Glover as saying, “?It is intriguing to realize they are signaling to each other with flashing multicolors [that] we can’t see.”

Let’s hope they stay around long enough for us to decipher more of their mysteries. Scientists are studying bees in order to figure out why there are fewer of them than there used to be.

Art credit: freeimages.co.uk

We couldn’t survive a bee free future. What will our future bring? You can consult the stars, but you can also consult the daily news of the edge right here on this website, including our new Out There section. You can also hear Whitley talk about what’s going to happen in ’09 in person on February 15! But we can’t be here for you tomorrow if you’re not here for us today, so take a minute RIGHT NOW and subscribe today (and please take another moment to click on the “donate” tab on our homepage too!)

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