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Information
Honey
bees, like other bees, are wild rather than domesticated.
The species would survive in the wild state without
any interference from man and its behavior would continue
to be unchanged. Any success man has attained in utilizing
honey bees for their productivity is the result of his
close study of their natural instincts and behavior.
He has used this knowledge to develop management practices
that permit him to operate them for his own benefit.
All bees, including the honey bee, have branched hairs
covering their bodies. This is one of the important
characteristics that distinguishes bees from other insects.
These branched hairs become dusted with pollen grains
as they visit the flowers. The pollen of a different
flower of the same species usually competes well in
the fertilization process with pollen from the flower
being pollinated. Since a bee may visit 100 to 400 blossoms
during each trip to the field, cross- pollination is
effected by distribution of pollen grains from the anthers
of one flower to the stigma of another. Many plants
with perfect flowers, that is bearing both anthers and
stigma, are self-sterile to their own pollen; in others
the mate and female flowers are produced on different
plants; and in others the male and female blossoms are
separate on the same plant. All three situations make
bees essential to the production of seed and fruit.
Even self-fertile plants are usually more productive
when crosspollinated.
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