A hypothesis to test:

If there are fewer than 2 open, untripped flowers in bloom at the end of the day, pollination is too rapid.

Seeds per pod is greatest when flowers are pollinated the second day that they are open.

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Slide 12 of 17

Notes:

As a hypothesis to be tested I propose that if all of the flowers on racemes are either tripped, wilted, or buds at the end of the day, then pollination may be occurring too fast. This means that the bees are pollinating every flower the day it comes into bloom. There is evidence that seeds per pod is greatest when the flowers are pollinated the second day that they are open, probably because the stigma is more receptive on day 2 of bloom. Thus, it is better for seed set if some flowers are left unpollinated until the second day of bloom. Furthermore, if all flowers are pollinated on the day that they open, the bees may run out of food too fast to produce a sustainable population. Nectar has a chance to accumulate in the flower if it is open at least 24 hours, so there are more resources for the bee if not all the flowers are pollinated the day that they open.