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Pollination is how flowering plants reproduce: pollen moves from the anther (the male part) to the stigma (the female part), so the plant can make seeds. Some plants use wind; many use animals, and they reward them with nectar and pollen.

Bees carry pollen in different ways. Bumblebees comb pollen into pollen baskets on their back legs. Solitary bees carry it on a pollen brush of hairs on their legs or under the abdomen.

Some flowers, such as tomatoes and blueberries, are buzz pollinated: a bumblebee lands on the flower and rapidly vibrates the muscles in its thorax, which shakes the pollen out.

Experiment: Which bee body carries the most pollen?

1. Predict which bee will carry pollen to the most flowers, and why.
2. Decide what you will keep the same: the size of the bees, how you dip them, how hard you press.
3. Dip the first bee once into the cornflour and tap it once on the side of the dish.
4. Press it gently once on each flower in turn, without dipping again.
5. Count how many flowers got a visible white mark.
6. Repeat for the other two bees. Do each bee three times and work out the average.
7. Which bee was the best pollinator? Was your prediction right?

Bee	Try 1	Try 2	Try 3	Average flowers marked
Fluffy pom-pom	Which bee will mark the most flowers?
Fuzzy pipe cleaner	Which bee will mark the most flowers?
Smooth foil	Which bee will mark the most flowers?

Questions

1. Explain what pollination is. Use the words pollen, anther and stigma.

2. Name the three kinds of honeybee in a colony and give one job of each.

3. In your experiment, what did you change, what did you measure and what did you keep the same?

4. Give two reasons why pollinators are declining.

Sources for every fact on this sheet: echoesof.science/school/bees/sources/

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