| wrong | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Group Name: | |
| right | 103 | 102 | 101 | 100 | 99 | 98 | 97 | 96 | 95 | 94 | 93 | 92 | 91 | ||
| score | 100 | 99.0 | 98.1 | 97.1 | 96.1 | 95.1 | 94.2 | 93.2 | 92.2 | 91.3 | 90.3 | 89.3 | 88.3 | . |
| Bee HyperAttractive | Name_____________________ |
You should have read the information page about bees before coming to class. This is a computer exercise in pollination biology. Why computers in biology? Bees are very dangerous to handle...it could be fatal for some of you! Computer bees are harmless "bugs." Moreover, we can vary the computer flowers without having a huge collection of expensive real flowers on hand all at the perfect stage of readiness for pollination! Also, we can do the project in a time less than a whole research career. The results given by the computer are consistent with those that have been obtained tediously in the field over a very long period of time.
You will design the specifications for two flowers and present them to a bee. The bee will visit each flower a certain number of times based upon how attractive you have made the flower and upon the temperature you have set. You will record the temperature, the characteristics of the two flowers and the number of visits to each flower. Your goal is to be able to answer the questions using the data you have collected.
Set the temperature to 20°C. Be sure all other variables are "none." Try all the colors for the flowers:
| 20°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 2 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 3 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 4 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 5 | none | none | none |
What is the most attractive color of flower? red yellow white blue purple
What is the least attractive color of flower? red yellow white blue purple
Repeat the trials at the other two possible temperatures.
| 30°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 2 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 3 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 4 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 5 | none | none | none |
| - /12 |
| 10°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 2 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 3 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 4 | none | none | none | ||
| Flower 5 | none | none | none |
Notice which colors are now the favorites and which are now the least-preferred.
Do bees change their color preferences as temperature is increased? yes no
| Why are bees attracted to certain colors? |
| And not to other colors? |
Set all the flowers to the best color. Then, holding all the other variables the same, change the fragrance:
| 20°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | none | |||
| Flower 2 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 3 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 4 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 5 | " | none | none |
What is the most attractive fragrance? sweet spicy acrid fetid
What is the least attractive fragrance? sweet spicy acrid fetid
| - /16 |
Repeat the trials at the other two possible temperatures:
| 30°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | none | |||
| Flower 2 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 3 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 4 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 5 | " | none | none |
| 10°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | none | |||
| Flower 2 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 3 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 4 | " | none | none | ||
| Flower 5 | " | none | none |
Notice which fragrances are now the favorites and which are now the least-preferred.
Do bees change their fragrance preferences as temperature is increased? yes no
Check over your past experiments to answer these three questions:
If a flower is the wrong color and produces no fragrance, will a bee visit at all? yes no
If a flower produces neither a nectar nor pollen reward, will a bee visit at all? yes no
Will the bee make a return visit to such a flower? yes no
Set all the flowers to the best fragrance as well as the best color. Then, holding all other variables the same, vary the nectar:
| 20°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | ||||
| Flower 2 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 3 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 4 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 5 | " | " | none |
| - /20 |
| 30°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | ||||
| Flower 2 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 3 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 4 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 5 | " | " | none |
| 10°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | none | ||||
| Flower 2 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 3 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 4 | " | " | none | ||
| Flower 5 | " | " | none |
What is the most preferred nectar at 30 degrees? watery sweet sugary bitter
What is the most preferred nectar at 20 degrees? watery sweet sugary bitter
What is the most preferred nectar at 10 degrees? watery sweet sugary bitter
What nectar is the least-preferred? watery sweet sugary bitter
| Why do bees prefer the quality of nectar observed to be best at 10 degrees? |
| Why do bees prefer the quality of nectar observed to be best at 30 degrees? |
| - /18 |
Leave the flowers at the best color and fragrance. Set the temperature to 20 degrees. Set the nectar to its best state for 20 degrees. Then, change the pollen type:
| 20°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | |||||
| Flower 2 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 3 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 4 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 5 | " | " | " |
Set the temperature to 30 degrees. Set the nectar to its best state for 30 degrees. Repeat the project:
| 30°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | |||||
| Flower 2 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 3 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 4 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 5 | " | " | " |
Set the temperature to 10 degrees. Set the nectar to its best state for 10 degrees. Repeat the project.
| 10°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower 1 | |||||
| Flower 2 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 3 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 4 | " | " | " | ||
| Flower 5 | " | " | " |
What is the preferred pollen at all these temperatures? dry clumped sticky wet
The least-preferred pollen at 10°C is , and it is more acceptable at °C because...
| - /22 |
Check through your projects so far to answer these three questions:
What is the optimal combination of flower characteristics at 10 degrees?
| 10°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimal Flower |
What is the optimal combination of flower characteristics at 20 degrees?
| 20°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimal Flower |
What is the optimal combination of flower characteristics at 30 degrees?
| 30°C | Color | Odor | Nectar | Pollen | #Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimal Flower |
| - /15 |
This page © Ross E. Koning 1994.
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Send comments and bug reports to Ross Koning at rkoning@snet.net.