Fig. 3.

Bees uptake nectar via viscous dipping. (A) A bumblebee (Bombus) drinking. While normally protruding straight from the galeae, the tongue here bends to lap up nectar from the substrate, a paper towel soaked in a sucrose solution. (B) Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of the bumblebee’s tongue. (C) A schematic illustration of the experiment that allows us to visualize the viscous dipping of a honeybee (Apis) with a long-distance microscope and a high-speed camera operating at 250 frames per second. Here, the bee’s tongue is dipped into a 40% sucrose solution, then withdrawn (see Movie S2).