We here at ODP would like to consider ourselves friends of pollinators and we encourage treating them with kindness (as Mayor Pete recently did). This past week at New York Climate Week, I (Miro) had two honeybees land on me in one day without thinking much of it. Then yesterday I had a third honeybee land on me and this time I was stung. The reason I’m telling you this story is that like any good Millennial, I was wearing a leopard print for each of these pollinator encounters and I began to wonder if bees were attracted to my fashion choices? I did a little research and it turns out that the answer may be yes! This is according to Science Daily:

Flower colors that contrast with their background are more important to foraging bees than patterns of colored veins on pale flowers. Bees can identify, and are sometimes attracted to, patterned flowers over plain flowers. These patterns can increase the speed with which bees locate the nectar reward in a flower.

Caveat emptor friends! Trying to be trendy could turn out to bee the wrong choice.