We designed artificial flowers to test what wild pollinators in our gardens were attracted to.
Click here to see a video of us explaining our designs
Click here to see a video of us explaining our designs
Our first flower designs
We tried different flower shapes, colours and textures to attract wild pollinators.
We used "eppendorf tubes" in the middle of the flower and filled them with 'nectar' (sugar + water) to make our flowers more attractive.
We also made a 'control' flower (g) with black paper to see if insects would be attracted just to the sugar water in the middle.
We used "eppendorf tubes" in the middle of the flower and filled them with 'nectar' (sugar + water) to make our flowers more attractive.
We also made a 'control' flower (g) with black paper to see if insects would be attracted just to the sugar water in the middle.
Our final designs for the garden experiment
After reflecting on the field day and how attractive our flowers were, we redesigned our gardens experiment to test the effect of colour and material on pollinator preferences.
a: Fancy yellow flower
b: fancy blue flower with UV nectar guides
c: blue plastic
d: blue paper
e: yellow plastic
f: yellow paper
g: black plastic (control)
h: black paper (control)
After reflecting on the field day and how attractive our flowers were, we redesigned our gardens experiment to test the effect of colour and material on pollinator preferences.
a: Fancy yellow flower
b: fancy blue flower with UV nectar guides
c: blue plastic
d: blue paper
e: yellow plastic
f: yellow paper
g: black plastic (control)
h: black paper (control)
Lucas describes his flower design (B):
"I’ve used a circular piece of blue paper with yellow petals and UV pen, so bees can actually see the UV light and direct them to the sugar water. And I’ve added these pipe-cleaners to make them a bit more attractive"
"I’ve used a circular piece of blue paper with yellow petals and UV pen, so bees can actually see the UV light and direct them to the sugar water. And I’ve added these pipe-cleaners to make them a bit more attractive"
Do your experiments with artificial flowers!
Please feel free to try our experiments at home and make up your own!
You can use ours or make new flower designs.
For example, you could experiment with new textures, shapes and sizes.
Feel free to also share your ideas and results with us (see our details on the contact page)
Materials we used (you can try your own!)
How to make the flowers
You can use ours or make new flower designs.
For example, you could experiment with new textures, shapes and sizes.
Feel free to also share your ideas and results with us (see our details on the contact page)
Materials we used (you can try your own!)
- Plastic plates and/or paper
- Pipe cleaners
- Eppendorf tubes (we got these from a science lab, you can use any small container)
- BBQ skewer
- Blue tack
- Sticky labels
- Sugar
- Water
How to make the flowers
- Cut circles from the plates/paper (bees love symmetrical shapes!)
- Make petals from paper (if you want to)
- Poke a hole in the middle to put the eppendorf tube
- Mix 'nectar' (equal parts sugar and water)
- Transfer 'nectar' into flowers before experiments