Can’t You Hear Me Buzzing
So did you see the article in National Geographic about how plants can “hear” the buzzing of bees? A researcher at Tel Aviv University named Lilach Hadani found that Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) measurably responds to that buzzing sound in two ways.
First, this plant increases the concentration of sugar in its nectar by up to 20%. And second, the Evening Primrose will itself vibrate in response to the sound waves given off by the wings of bees. The effect was produced by exposing the plants to the recorded droning of bees, and also to similar low-frequency sounds. Mid- and high-frequency sounds produced no response.
Hadani thinks that the flowers themselves are important to this botanical “hearing”. Evening Primrose has bowl-shaped flowers like little satellite dishes. But do plants with differently shaped blooms hear just as well – or at all? Only further research will tell.
Of course, it’s misleading to say that Evening Primrose hears bees or anything else. They don’t have ears, brains, or a nervous system. But they can sense the sound and react to it, just as they can sense when they are touched. Perhaps they feel the sound waves given off by a bee’s wings the way the hearing impaired can feel the vibrations of music.
Speaking of which, Hadani’s research does not support the idea that plants react to music, or prefer classical to rock-and-roll (or the other way around). That theory has been pretty thoroughly discredited.
Anyway, it’s a pretty interesting article, so go read the whole thing.
Further evidence of the many links between pollinators and plants!
Definitely!
I too react to the buzzing of bees and bumble bees. I get excited. 🙂 Love these pictures. Yes, I had read this article before. Interesting.
The buzzing makes me happy, I don’t know about excited.
Fascinating! And, yes, more evidence of the links between pollinators and plants.
Indeed.
Wow, great photos! Thank you for sharing the research. It is interesting!
Glad you liked those photos.
It’s fascinating, I’m glad you posted about this research. Those shots are wonderful!
Thanks!
Very interesting. Aren’t plants amazing? Great shots too.
Peter! I thought you of all people would get the musical reference.
What a cool article! Nature is a crazy, amazing thing, isn’t it?
Pretty much.
We used tell people to talk to their plants, that it made the plants thrive. A neighbor once told my father that he talked to his tomatoes but they were never as good as my father’s. My father said, “What are you saying to them?” Plants must react to their environment in many ways we have yet to discover.
Maybe plants don’t like a lot of negative talk.
So, if I talk to my plants, they just pretty much will ignore me unless I buzz? Interesting.
I intend to really work on my buzzing.
Another fascinating piece of information. Thanks for the link Jason. 🙂
You’re welcoming!
Thank you for the link. I’ll add that to my reading for tonight.
Given the amount of bees in my yard each summer I have wondered if there was any cross communication going on between them and the flowers.
Seems like there must be!
When it comes to plants I think we have barely scratched the surface. There is much to learn.
Can’t argue with that.
I agree that there is still so much we don’t know about the natural world. Yes, humans have a lot to learn. Thank you for the link, Jason.
You can say that again, as far as having a lot to learn.
I was happily reading along, about 80 per cent attentive, until I got to this: “the team also ran tests on flowers that had one or more petals removed. Those flowers failed to resonate with either of the low-frequency sounds.” That really stopped me. Fascinating article.
Weird, right?
It’s so interesting when one finds a calling/career that matches one’s name!
True.
Fascinating! I agree with the comment about there being much to learn about plants – this may very well be the tip of the iceberg.
I suspect that is so.
It is not surprising. It is amazing that more are investigating such theories though. Just a few decades ago, we judged plants and well as animals, by our own standards, and ways of perceiving things. No one would have considered that plants can hear, merely because they lack the means with which to hear in the same manner that we do.
Very true.
Interesting , but I’m disappointed to hear that my plants don’t enjoy a bit of Mozart.
Yes, it’s too bad, otherwise you could listen to him together.
Hello Jason, given I’m tone deaf, I’m still not going to risk singing to my plants. It’s interesting – the focus on Evening Primrose as we have this gradually self-seeding it’s way around the garden. As the flowers open in the evening and fade the next morning, I thought this plant was pollinated by moths. Never-the-less, it’s funny to hear that it’s not just the walls that have ears, but plants too!
Good point. I believe they are pollinated by both moths and bees.
Goodness, it’s just fascinating!xxx
Agreed.;