Iain Stewart demonstrates the unique and specialised relationship between one particular flower, Orpheum frutescens, and one particular species of bee - the carpenter bee.

Some flowers have evolved astonishingly close relationships with certain animals. Orpheum frutescens is a flower which has struck up an exclusive relationship with a particular bee – the carpenter bee. They work together in a remarkable way. In order to get the tasty pollen the bee has to vibrate its wings at a particular frequency – middle C. These oscillations then make the flower open its stamens which releases the pollen, covering the bee in the fine yellow powder. This specific relationship ensures that the flowers’ pollen is taken by the carpenter bee to another flower of the same species, and so isn’t wasted.