Bees drink the nectar of our open-centered dahlias, and in doing so, they get crumbs of pollen on their faces and bodies. Female worker bumble bees (like this one) clean themselves by brushing the pollen into their pollen baskets (aka corbiculae or pollen sacs), moistened with saliva or nectar, to bring home to the family for later eating. This photo shows a big ball of moist pollen kept in place in the bee baskets on her hind legs by barbed hairs around a polished cavity. These balls of pollen can contain around one million individual protein-rich grains. As she moves on, stray pollen gets transferred to the next dahlia flowers, and this is how we get our seeds. #corbiculae #pollination #pollensac #pollenbasket #dahliaoftheday #cocoxochitl #honeybee #dahlia #bumblebee https://www.instagram.com/p/B11oLH1g3Mv/?igshid=1vd4y8ghtpg6p
