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Pollen-deprived bumblebees may speed up plant blooming by biting leaves

In a pollen shortage, bees can make tomatoes bloom early by nipping foliage

bumblebee

A bumblebee sinks its mouthparts into a plant leaf to nip a small hole. Little cuts like this seem to jolt plants into starting to flower early — good news for a bee deprived of pollen.

Hannier Pulido, C. De Moraes, Mescher Laboratories

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

Here’s a bumblebee tip that might get a slowpoke plant to bloom early.