Question at position 17 You see a solitary bee species on the beach near a puddle of water. You watch it fly back to the puddle several times in the span of a few hours. What is this bee most likely doing with this water?Spraying it into the sand to soften it, allowing them to dig into it to create their solitary nestBringing it back to the hive for the queen to drinkDrinking it单项选择题
A
Spraying it into the sand to soften it, allowing them to dig into it to create their solitary nest
B
Bringing it back to the hive for the queen to drink
C
Drinking it

Question

Question at position 17 You see a solitary bee species on the beach near a puddle of water. You watch it fly back to the puddle several times in the span of a few hours. What is this bee most likely doing with this water?Spraying it into the sand to soften it, allowing them to dig into it to create their solitary nestBringing it back to the hive for the queen to drinkDrinking it单项选择题

A

Spraying it into the sand to soften it, allowing them to dig into it to create their solitary nest

B

Bringing it back to the hive for the queen to drink

C

Drinking it

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The scenario describes a solitary bee species on a beach near a puddle of water, repeatedly flying back to the puddle over a period of hours. This sets up the context for understanding a likely behavior rather than a social hive activity.
Option 1: 'Spraying it into the sand to soften it, allowing them to dig into it to create their solitary nest' This is a plausible behavior for certain solitary bees that need moist sand or mud to construct their nests. They often collect water to mix with soil or to facilitate digging, and spraying or depositing water into the sand can soften it for nest construction. This uses ecological reasoning about nest physiology and resource use in solitary bees.
Option 2: 'Bringing it back to the hive for the queen to drink' This option implies a social hive structure with a queen and a shared hive. The prompt specifies a solitary bee, which by definition does not have a queen or a hive to feed collectively. Therefore this choice conflicts with the observed solitary bee behavior and social organization.
Option 3: 'Drinking it' This suggests the bee uses water for drinking. While bees do drink water, the repeated behavior over hours at a water source near sand, followed by interactions with sand, points toward moisture use for nest-building rather than mere drinking. In many solitary bee species, water is used to moisten soil or sand to enable excavation, not exclusively for hydration, making this option less comprehensive as an explanation for the observed repetitive activity.
In summary, option 1 aligns with known nesting behavior of certain solitary bees that require softened sand or mud for digging or building nests, while option 2 is incompatible with a solitary species' social structure, and option 3 describes a possible but less explanatory use of water given the context of near-sand digging activities.