Bee Pollination (melittophily)
Bee-pollinated flowers can be very variable in their size, shape and colouration. They can be open and bowl-shaped (radially symmetrical) or more complex and non-radially symmetric ("zygomorphic") such as many peas, foxgloves, etc.
Some bee flowers tend to be yellow or blue, often with ultraviolet nectar guides and scent. Nectar, pollen, or both are offered as rewards in varying amounts. The sugar in the nectar tends to be sucrose-dominated.
There are diverse types of bees, however. Honeybees, bumblebees, orchid bees, etc. are large groups that are quite distinctive in size, tongue length and behaviour (some solitary, some colonial). Thus generalization about bees is difficult. Some plants can only be pollinated by bees because their anthers release pollen internally, and it must be shaken out by buzz pollination (also known as "sonication"). Bees are the only animals that perform this behaviour. Bumblebees sonicate, but honeybees do not.
Bee pollination from mobile beehives is of great economic value for orchards such as apple or almond.
Read more about this topic: Pollination Syndrome, Biotic Pollination Syndromes
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