| Cymbidium floribundum (kinryouhen in Japanese) and Japanese honeybee |
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In early spring so many Cymbidium orchids come up to flower shop windows. Many new varieties are produced one after another to compete the shape and color of the orchids.
Usually honeybees do not visit to those orchid flowers. If they visit those flowers, they do not get into the flowers, but go to honey gland, which is located on peduncle (basal part of the flower) to suck honey. Function of the honey gland is considered to be attraction of ants to protect the flower from other animals. There is no honey gland in the flowers.
As one of the orchids, people have been appreciating Cymbidium floribundum (kinryouhen in Japanese) from Edo era. This orchid also have honey gland on the peduncle, but not in the flower. However Japanese honeybees get into the flowers, and then the honeybees move to another flower with pollinia sticking on the bodies. Therefore the honeybees pollinate the flowers.
Male (drone) of Japanese honeybees, which originally do not collect honey or pollen, also visit the flowers and exhibit same behavior as the workers. As the result, the male bees perform pollination. It denied common knowledge in honeybee science that male bee does not visit flower, and then does not pollinate flower.
If Japanese honeybee swarms at the same time of blooming of C.floribundum, all the bees in the swarm visit the flowers. Swarm, which escaped from its nest, also gathers on the flowers.
When honeybees start swarming, at first they fly up from the nest and then gather on a tree. It is considered that aggregation pheromone secreted from the bees cause the gathering. Japanese honeybee is attracted to fragrance of the flowers of C.floribundum .
Thus C. floribundum releases substance, which attracts the worker bees, drones, and also whole swarm, but the attractant has not been characterized.
I have a variety of C.floribundum with yellow flowers, which is a gift from my friend in Ehime prefecture. Japanese honeybees were also attracted to the flowers as shown in the photograph.
This phenomenon is specifically observed for Japanese honeybee, but western honeybee is not attracted to the flowers of C.floribundum.
