While bees typically feed on nectar and pollen, some species such as the Hawaiian yellow-faced bee are also capable of eating fruit. One such colony forager feeds on various flowering plants – it feeds off everything from nectar sources like flowers to nectar in fruit trees!
Nectar provides energy in the form of carbohydrates while pollen delivers proteins, lipids and various vitamins and minerals to support bee health. Feeding studies have demonstrated that bees strive for balance between carbs and proteins – something they frequently accomplish with great success.
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Nectar
Nectar is the sweet, sugary liquid produced by flowering plants to attract pollinating animals such as bees. This nectar provides all of the vital carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals a bee could want.
Bees utilize their sophisticated mouthparts to access nectar. Their 17 interlocking and moveable parts enable them to drink up this nectar-rich fluid.
Once a bee finds her target flowers, she uses saliva to wet grains of pollen before transporting it onto stiff hairs on her hind legs, known as pollen baskets. After returning home with protein-rich food for her larvae, she returns home.
Honey bees have long relied upon food sources such as apples, plums, grapes and pears as an alternate source of nectar and glucose for survival through winter months. Honey bees rely heavily on pollen sources as sources of nectar – these sources offer essential nutrition.
Pollen
Most bees rely on nectar and pollen as sources of protein and carbohydrates, with certain exceptions like Brazil’s Scaptotrigona depilis being an exception: this species exclusively consumes fungi. These bees cultivate it within their nest by providing it with nectar and pollen so as to promote its growth.
Forager bees travel long distances in search of nectar and pollen, gathering their haul in an “arbor” on their rear legs before transporting it back to the hive in an “basket.” Once back at home, nectar is stored as honey while pollen fermented into bee bread to provide protein for drones, workers, and queen. Scientists have even identified ten essential amino acids which contribute to bee health – scientists call this diversity essential for good bee health!
Fruit
Honey bees use their long proboscis (which looks like a straw) to reach into flowers and collect nectar that contains sweet nectar, using its long proboscis to drill into its center and extract liquid nectar from within it.
Bees also feed on pollen from flowering plants, which they convert into honey for energy source. Pollen contains essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins.
When nectar supplies become deficient, bees will forage on fruit such as apples, figs, grapes and oranges to supplement their nectar needs. Hendriksma’s research shows that when food sources lack certain amino acids necessary for survival of colonies they will visit different plants until they find those essential to survival – helping their colonies remain viable through this strategy.
Vegetables
Many of the vegetables we eat rely on bee pollination for pollination purposes, for instance eggplant (aubergine). Bees help pollinate flowers so that eggplant (aubergine) plants grow large enough for harvest. Therefore, farmers hire or raise bees as pollinators.
Bees need a combination of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and minerals in their diet for survival; carbohydrates come from nectar while proteins and other essential nutrients can be found in pollen.
As part of your bee nutrition efforts, plant a garden with herbs like mint, rosemary and lavender; also try planting plants such as comfrey, borage, lemon balm and dill. Bees love pollinated tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries, cucumbers watermelons and pumpkins which all require bee pollination to grow as well as cantaloupes and eggplants which require their pollination too! Finally consider growing cantaloupes and eggplant.
Other Insects
Researchers are slowly beginning to gain a better understanding of what bees eat. Foraging bees collect two food sources – nectar and pollen. Nectar provides essential carbohydrate energy while pollen contains genetic material essential for reproduction of flower blooms – so bees make great pollinators.
Bees that forage for nectar also benefit from gathering other sources of nourishment during their foraging trips, such as the sweet secretions from insects such as aphids containing sugar. This food source, commonly referred to as honeydew, offers numerous other advantages for bees and helps fill nutritional gaps left by an inadequate diet containing certain vitamins and minerals – this phenomenon can often be observed when bees gather near ripe fruits like grapes or peaches.
