Humans base their color combinations on red, blue and green, while bees base their colors on ultraviolet light, blue and green. ... It's often in the UV spectrum, so we can't see it. But, bees can. They see these shiny petals and associate them with sugar. read more
Even though humans can see more colors, bees have a much broader range of color vision. Their ability to see ultraviolet light gives them an advantage when seeking nectar. Many patterns on flowers are invisible to humans. These nectar “bulls-eyes” are visible only to animals, such as bees, that have the ability to see ultra-violet light. read more
Bees evolved from wasps, which can see in UV (as can many insects, so the ability to see in UV likely happened much earlier in insect history). When the partnership between bees and flowers happened, many flowers developed patterns which can only be seen in UV. These act as a guide for bees and other pollinators. read more