DEC 17, 2015

Watch in Slow Motion As This Bee Pollinates By Headbanging Flowers

WRITTEN BY: Anthony Bouchard


Bees help with the pollination of flowers and other plants, just like many other flying critters do, but not all bees do it the same way.

In Australia, such a species of bee exists that will actually ‘headbang' a flower to shake its pollen out. Yes; headbang. The interesting part too is that the bee is capable of headbanging the pollen out at such a great speed - nearly 350 times per second.

In this video, recorded by RMIT University in collaboration with University of Adelaide, Harvard University and University of California, researchers studied the pollination techniques of various bees and recorded the Australian bee using the headbang technique in slow motion.

The fast headbanging creates such a subtle vibration that the pollen can escape the flower and move out and about the plant.