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 57 Apis dorsata DHJanzen100448.jpg high resolution
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| But return to the question of where did the pollinators of the Strobilanthes flowers come from? Well, south India and Sri Lanka were once famous for their large numbers of highly mobile honey bee colonies - Apis dorsata, a different species from the African honeybee that we also know as domesticated honey bees. Here are several large exposed Apis dorsata colonies on a tall tree branch, their massive wax combs full exposed to the elements (and see DHJanzen100451.jpg below). What we know from historical records, especially from the late 1800s and early 1900s, is that when the Strobilanthes flowered, the bees came - from many tens of kilometers away. And they then built new nests on trees, houses, cliffs - anything stable and above the ground. And when the Strobilanthes stopped flowering, they went away. | ||
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