Cathy Akers-Jordan, a regular reader of BeeKnees sent me a link to a website called ScienceFriday.com. They produce weekly snippets of very interesting science. This particular link was about bees and a type of orchid that takes advantage of the bees by bombing them with pollen. Thanks, Cathy! I loved those slow-motion photos of the plant at work.
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| Public Domain Photo of Pollen Grain |
But then I saw another SciFri post listed on the left. Pollen Origami was the name. Well, of course I had to open it and watch the video. The Atlanta area gets a lot of pollen in the spring – a fact that I’m sure my bees will appreciate. I figure I ought to know as much about pollen as I could. Plus, I just love learning new things.
The idea is that the inside of a pollen grain dries out very easily, so the impermeable outside layer folds itself around the inside in an origami-like process, forming a waterproof protection. Fascinating! The video is great fun. Here it is.
BEEattitude for Day # 172:
Blessed are the people who plant lots of pollen-bearing flowers and trees for us, for they shall live in the middle of glory.
One thing Fran is grateful for right now:
Whoever invented Weetabix. I know it’s more expensive than Shredded Wheat, but I don’t care. I like it. [Now you know what I ate for breakfast yesterday!]
1 comment:
Hi Fran
I'm so glad you liked the link! For NPR fans, you can listen to Science Friday every Friday afternoon. It's also available as a podcast. They have lots of good info on a wide range of topics (including bees).
Cathy Akers-Jordan
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