Bees have more than one way to feed on nectar

[Still Waters]

For over a century, scientists have believed that honeybees have just one way to feed on nectar. After landing on a flower, they extend their tongue into the nectar source. Thousands of bristles then become erect, creating an ideal environment for trapping nectar. Each of the bristles reaches into the nectar at just the right angle to create holding spaces between them. The tongue is then retracted back into the proboscis. A pumping mechanism extracts the liquid from the tongue. This maneuver is repeated until the nectar runs out or the bee becomes sated. In this new effort, the researchers have found that honeybees take another approach on occasion.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-honeybees-nectar.html

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0449