Synonyms:
pollen
Meaning: the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant
Usage examples
We are indebted to Huber for the discovery of the use made by the bees of pollen.
It is probable that the pollen of different kinds of flowers would not pack so well together.
Bees were confined to their hive without any pollen, after being supplied with honey, eggs and larvae.
At the last annual Apiarian Convention in Germany, a cultivator recommended wheat flour as an excellent substitute for pollen.
But as all the elements of wax are found in honey, and none of them in pollen, this opinion does not seem to me, to be entitled to much weight.
A fresh supply of brood was given to them, with an ample allowance of pollen, and the development of the larvae then proceeded in the natural way.
My experiments do not corroborate this theory, but tend to confirm the views of Huber, and to show the absolute necessity of pollen to the development of brood.
It has been observed that a bee, in gathering pollen, always confines herself to the same kind of flower on which she begins, even when that is not so abundant as some others.
The same able contributor to Apiarian science, thinks that pollen is used by the bees when they are engaged in comb-building; and that unless they are well supplied with it, they cannot rapidly secrete wax, without very severely taxing their strength.
It is certain that if they flew from one species to another, there would be a much greater mixture of different varieties than there now is, for they carry on their bodies the pollen or fertilizing principle, and thus aid most powerfully in the impregnation of plants.