Flicker and the Reactions of Bees to Flowers

Bees were conditioned to collect food on natural and artificial flower beds, parts of which could be set into rotation or side to side movement. Through the relative motion of the flowers the number of alternating stimuli upon the bee's eye is increased. Due to the fact that bees show a strong reaction to intermittent optical stimulation, the proportion of bees settling on the moving section of the flower bed is increased. It seems probable therefore that the visual reaction of bees to flowers in nature is largely due to the flicker effect produced through the motion of the bees relative to the flowers.