When you walk in the forest you will not notice it too quickly. But nature has come up with a solution to many things. For example, the spraying of the pollen by the bumblebees, this is also called symbiosis. This collaboration is also called mutualism, just like the collaboration between fleas and hedgehogs.
Bumblebees
Bumblebees are used by gardeners to pollinate their tomatoes with pollen. You can buy bumblebees in nesting boxes since 1987, in these nesting boxes there is a whole colony consisting of a queen, workers, larvae and eggs. For the energy of the bumblebees there is sugar water in the nesting box. The bumblebees get energy for themselves from this sugar water. Of course, pollen must be spread, this is done because the bumblebee workers look for pollen for the youngsters. The tomato flowers themselves provide the pollen, when the bumblebees are collecting it, they spread the pollen from the tomato plants. This relationship is called symbiosis.
Taking advantage of this relationship
The tomato growers make very good use of it. About 20 years ago, tomato growers would walk three or four times a week with a stick past the tomato plants in their greenhouses and hit the stems of the tomato plants. In this way he made the tomato flowers vibrate, something that happens in the open air due to wind. The vibration releases the pollen in the flowers. The pollen ends up on the pistil in the same flower. Tomatoes are self-pollinators. Fortunately, bumblebees have made this work superfluous. Nowadays a tomato grower has a few colonies of bumblebees in the greenhouse.
How does it work?
When a bumblebee comes to a tomato flower, it bumps the flower. The pollen is released. The bumblebee takes her part and another part ends up on the pestle. This gives the bumblebee food for its young, the tomato flower is pollinated and a tomato can form.
Symbiosis
The relationship between tomato plants and bumblebees is a form of symbiosis. Symbiosis involves various forms of relationships between organisms of different species. At least one of the two types depends on that relationship. In this case, the tomato flower is the dependent organism of this symbiosis. The organism that does not depend on it should not be bothered by the relationship in symbiosis. In fact, the tomato grower also has a symbiosis between bumblebees and tomato plants. It is in fact dependent on the tomato plants, and the tomato plant is therefore in itself dependent on the bumblebees. Without this cooperation, the tomato grower will have a lower yield of tomatoes and it will also lead to lower labor costs.
Mutualism
A flea that lives between the spines of a hedgehog or the fur of the squirrels benefits from both. The flea has shelter and warmth. It is also beneficial for the hedgehogs and squirrels. Since both benefit the relationship, it means that these two organisms engage in mutualism. Both benefit from this collaboration.