Influence of nectar-supply rate on the number of flowers visited by a honeybee on each collecting flight.

The behavior of nectar-collecting honeybees (Apis mellifica) at a glass sugar-water contained and at various plants was observed, and these food sources were compared with regard to duration of the bee's sojourn in the collecting area and the number of single visits per sojourn. Meagre - but continuous - nectar secretion by the flowers of bee-pollinated plants, when combined with a small distance between the individual flowers, results in a high number of flowers visited during a sojourn in the collecting area.