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Blue Saturation Discrimination by Honeybees and its Potential Influence on Cross Pollination¹

Blue saturation discrimination of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) was investigated using artificial flowers constructed of Munsell standard colored matte paper with blue 7.5 PB 5/10 (Bm_max), 7.5 PB 5/6 (B_med), and 7.5 PB 5/2 (B_min). Bees trained to B_max, could distinguish B_max from B_min, though discrimination of B_max from B_med was not demonstrated. In a test of the reciprocal of the former test, bees trained to B_min could not discriminate it from B_max. This and tests with three saturation levels of green suggest that honeybee blue saturation discrimination is inferior to their color discrimination. However, these results indicate that honeybees may not forage randomly among plant genotypes having flowers of the same color with differences in saturation levels beyond B_max and B_min, especially when a greater reward is provided by the one with greatest color saturation.

Key Words: Apis mellifera L. • Pollination • Flower color • Plant breeding • Color intensity • Floral attractiveness • Honeybee behavior • Pollination ecology • Entomophilous flowers • Artificial flowers

² Graduate research assistant, Dep. of Entomology, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, and associate professor, Dep. of Entomology and Applied Ecology, Univ. of Delaware, Newark, Del. 19711.

Received for publication April 10, 1981.