Flowers may be big antennas for bees' electrical systems

Science News recently published an interesting article about how flowers may act as antennas for bees. "Flowering plants may have a secret power for knowing when to lure pollinators.

"They could act as antennas for bees’ electrical signals and transmit those signals through the soil, biophysicist Daniel Robert reported March 6 in Minneapolis at the American Physical Society meeting. The finding offers a possible clue to how floral neighbors share information about when to produce nectar, saving energy for when pollination looks promising.

"If a bee’s flapping wings trigger even a small voltage difference in plants, it could be 'an interesting demonstration of communication,' says Víctor Ortega-Jiménez, a biomechanics researcher at the University of Maine in Orono who was not involved in the study."

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