https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...578e5-42807595
"Bumblebees ... workers have developed a way to force them to bloom. ... the insects puncture the plants’ leaves, which causes them to flower, on average, 30 days earlier than they otherwise would."
"... The bees soon cut several holes in the leaves of each plant using their mandibles and proboscises. As a test, the researchers tried to replicate the bumblebee damage in additional plants with forceps and a razor. Both sets of plants with injured leaves bloomed faster, but the ones punctured by the bees flowered weeks earlier than those cut by the scientists, suggesting that chemicals in the insects’ saliva may be involved as well.
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