THE SUPER POLLINATOR A bee lands on a blooming sunflower It is collecting the flower’s pollen The powdery pollen clings to the bee’s body Then the bee flies to another sunflower Some pollen from the first flower falls onto the second flower The bee collects more pollen It moves on again spreading pollen from plant to plant Sunflowers are an excellent source of pollen for bees 5 CHAPTER 1
Approximately 20,000 species of bees exist on Earth All bee species eat nectar from flowering plants Most bees also gather pollen for food But the bees are not only helping themselves Many foods that humans eat come from flowering plants Some examples are apples almonds and cucumbers The plants that these foods come from need to be pollinated Pollination happens when pollen from one plant is moved to another plant Trading pollen allows the plants to grow seeds and fruit Bees help produce other foods as well For example bees pollinate a plant called alfalfa Beef cattle and dairy cows eat 6
alfalfa These animals provide humans with meat and dairy products Without bees humans would have fewer food choices They might not get the nutrients they need BEES BRING THE FOOD Bee pollination helped produce the following foods ketchup pickles beef yogurt apples blueberries milk 7
