Training bees to prefer certain flower scents boosts seed production

By Michael Le Page

It’s possible to train bees to prefer the scent of particular flowers

AFPhoto / Alamy

It is possible to train honeybees to prefer certain flowers. Feeding them food with a sunflower scent makes them more likely to visit sunflowers, boosting seed production by up to 60 per cent.

Many crops require insect pollination. In some parts of the world, beehives are routinely trucked from farm to farm to maximise pollination levels during the brief flowering periods. When the hives are moved, it can take time for the bees to start foraging on the new crop around them

“By conditioning bees inside the nest, it’s possible …