I am a
>CARNIVOROUS PLANT freak. I am not worried about American pitchers or the
>venus fly trap picking on my bees because the pitcher traps are too small
>for a bee to drown in and venus fly traps are generally too small to catch
>a bee. I am worried about the Nepenthaceae family which do produce large
>pitchers some of witch are known to swallow rats! But I beleive the biggest
>problem are the Sundews because they sercret sugery sticky mucilage drops
>that cover the leaves. This not only traps the insects, but it also
>attracts them like most carnivorous plants that use nectar like substances
>to lure their prey. My question is; do bees have antlike intelligence and
>will learn to stay away from these plants or will they keep falling victim
>like a dumb fly.
 
Flowers that require pollination have developed their own signals - I think
it works something like ultraviolet reflection on petals pointing the way to
a feed.  I doubt that sun-dews will be a major hazard since bees rely on
foragers returning to hives to indicate where nectar is to be found.
Carnivorous plants may snare random bees but individual bees are only a very
small part of the hive organism. I believe bees are preferentially attracted
to white flowers, then blue and yellow.  Sundews do not require a great deal
of prey to sustain life - it is more supplementing soil deficiencies.  I am
not even sure that they would be strong enough to trap a bee - I usually see
only very small insects being digested.
Each field bee has a foraging life of only 2 - 4  weeks in heavy nectar flow
conditions.  I expect the result of bringing in hives to be mutually
beneficial to bees and carnivorous plants - more food all round.
 
Betty McAdam
HOG BAY APIARY
Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
j.h. & e. mcadam<[log in to unmask]
http://kigateway.eastend.com.au/hogbay/hogbay1.htm