Date: 2 Jun 2026
Topic: Science
Codebreakers are a fun way to build numeracy skills.
Any plant that has flowers needs to be pollinated in order to reproduce. This can happen through biotic pollination (using carriers like bees, bats, and butterflies) or abiotic pollination (using the wind). Ancient plants with no flowers, like moss and ferns, avoid pollination altogether and just release microscopic spores.
For flowering plants, the process starts when the plant produces pollen in its anthers. When bees or other insects brush up against them, they get coated in this pollen. Bees are especially good at this because of their static-charged fuzz. Many insects eat pollen as a source of protein and fat, but they are messy eaters. To make themselves even more attractive, many flowers offer a special prize called nectar—a sugary liquid fuel.
As the insects fly from plant to plant to eat, they accidentally drop and spread the pollen onto the stigma, which is the receptive part of the flower. This fertilizes the plant, allowing the flower to fade away so it can grow fruit and produce seeds to plant anew.
While there are around 20,000 different species of bees alone, they aren't all the same. Honey bees are great pollinators that live in permanent hives and produce large amounts of honey to survive the winter. Bumblebees are also fantastic, messy pollinators, but they live in temporary colonies and only make a tiny bit of honey. Most of the other thousands of bee species are solitary and don't make any honey at all, but they are still vital for keeping our ecosystem alive.