Bumblebees have to learn how to get the nectar from flowers. In some flowers such as the daisy, this is easy, and involves repeated probing for SMALL REWARDS while standing on the platform-like flower. Other flowers are more of a challenge, for example monkshood is a very complicated flower, and the bumblebee must learn how to get inside to reach the comparatively LARGE REWARD. The bumblebee cannot see the nectar. To get at it she must use the flower. She must sit on the bottom petal and using her weight to either hold up the top petal with a leg then squeeze in, or just use her body as a wedge and push her way in. Once inside, the petals will come together and the bee will be wholly enclosed by the flower. Even after that, the bee must extend her tongue if she is a long-tongued bee, or crawl a little further down, then extend her tongue to reach the nectar. It takes time and energy to learn how to do this, however the REWARDS ARE GREAT FOR BOTH FLOWER AND BEE. The bee gets a lot of nectar in one visit. In addition, as it has taken so much effort to learn and as the rewards are so great, a bee that has learned how to use such a flower will tend to specialize on that particular type of flower. She will visit the same species repeatedly, fertilizing the flowers as she goes.
The two photographs below show a bumblebee pollinating an antirrhinum flower. The bee on the left was learning how to use the flower and took a while to get into the flower. As you can see, she is holding the top open and hesitated quite a while before entering. In contrast, the photograph on the right shows an experienced forager. She did not hesitate, nor did she try to hold up the top petal, she just used her weight to squeeze her way down into the flower. In addition, she came out rear end first, whereas the inexperienced forager turned around to come out headfirst. The location of the nectar is at the bottom of the gullet-like flower and once inside, the bee will become fully enclosed by the flower. It must be quite an experience and a great leap of faith the first time a bee lets the top petal fall down behind her.
Some bumblebees however, do not bother to put in the work needed to learn how to use such flowers. They rob the flower of its nectar without pollinating it in return. The bee will crawl on the outside of the flower, close to where she thinks the nectar is located, and then with her tongue sheath and mandibles, she bites and pokes a hole in the flower. Then she inserts her tongue sheath, extends her tongue, and sucks up the nectar.
In a devotional speech given at BYU by Elder F. Burton Howard on giving and getting, he stated, "I suppose that most of us have dreamed of inheriting a million dollars, or making a killing in a business venture, or even just being free of the work-a-day world in order to do what we want. But it is unworthy of a Latter-Day Saint to spend his time trying to achieve these or other things without effort. The real reason for our mortal probation is to confront challenges, not escape them. It is to learn to give, not to learn to get. In Earth life, as in the university, we cannot complain about not getting passing grades if we are unwilling to take the test. There are no shortcuts to the plan of salvation. There is no exaltation without effort. We have nothing more important to do than to fully, honestly, and completely obey the laws upon which blessings are predicated. Make no mistake about it; we will reap what we sow." (Gal. 6:7)
BUMBLEBEES:
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
PEOPLE:
In many ways, we are like the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!
Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, but Faith looks up!
So Look up! And get buuuuzzzzzzyyyy!!
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