Bee Alert: Middle C is the World’s Pollinator!

Every spring bees make their way around to all the blossoming flowers to pollinate nature for us – but did you know the key to doing it is by making music?

The wings of bumblebees cause flowers to release their pollen by beating at a frequency that causes the part of the flower that produces pollen – the “anther” – to vibrate.   This is necessary to successfully pollinate in some flowers – like those of tomatoes, peppers, cranberries & blueberries.  They must be vibrated or shaken, similar to the action of a salt shaker.

To do this, the bumblebee arrives at its flower making a high-pitched buzzing noise with its wings.  As it gets closer to the pollen, the bee continues beating its wings BUT lowers the frequency so that the note of its buzz suddenly falls to approximately Middle C. This causes the “anther” part of the flower to vibrate at just the right frequency needed for the flower to release the pollen, and for the grains to spout out of the hole at the top, like a yellow fountain.

To a musician, this means the sound wave for Middle C vibrates at just the right frequency to release pollen from flowers!  That makes Middle C nature’s best friend.

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