Bumblebees pollinate with a bite

Bumblebees have a special technique for collecting pollen. Using what is known as “buzz pollination”, bumblebees use vibrations from their flight muscles to release pollen from specific kind of flowers. New findings from researchers at Uppsala University give us a deeper understanding of how this works. In this film, Charlie Woodrow shows how bumblebees transmit these vibrations to flowers through periodic bites using their heads. By vibrating their heads up to 400 times faster than the acceleration off gravity, they amplify the vibrations, thus allowing pollen to be released.