Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

eine Blüte anfliegen

English translation:

visit a blossom/flower

Added to glossary by Veronika Neuhold
Oct 4, 2019 20:47
4 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

eine Blüte anfliegen

German to English Science Botany biodiversity
Im Herbst 2017 konnten konventionelle Landwirte eine sensationelle Hybridkürbisernte einbringen, weil viele nektarsammelnde Insekten aufgrund des immer schwächer werdenden Wildpflanzenangebots die Kürbisblüten auf den Hybridkürbispflanzen verstärkt **anflogen**.
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It seems that the usual expression here is "fly to a flower":

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q="bees fly to flowers"&lr=&...

Can you confirm this, or is there a special term?

Discussion

Lancashireman Oct 14, 2019:
Thank you for closing this question Many askers don't bother. However, others regard the occasion as an opportunity to provide feedback on their decision, some even showing how the answer chosen was incorporated into their final version. A vote of thanks to all contributors is not obligatory.
Ramey Rieger (X) Oct 8, 2019:
Verstärkt is the snag, in my opinion. The insects do not repeatedly visit/collect pollen from a single blossom. We're talking about a type of blossom and, for lack of other options, many pollinating insects were attracted to the pumpkin blossom. Increasingly, is therefore incorrect here as an adverb, but acceptable as an adjective - an increasing number of pollinating insects were attracted to the pumpkin blossom. "Verstärkt" is a typical German redundancy and does not belong in the translation (at least not as increasingly). So sue me.
Björn Vrooman Oct 7, 2019:
LOL I guess I should have posted the d-box entries. I could have given you a run for your money.

As an aside, more than one link below points to a science paper, unless that is also considered "non-technical."
Björn Vrooman Oct 4, 2019:
USA There are 31 instances of "visit" or "visits" in this government brochure: https://secure.iowadot.gov/lrtf/docs/pollinatorsiniowa.pdf

Except for the last one, all of them are in reference to "flower visits." Here's the USDA's version of a children's book:
"Pollinators visit flowers to collect pollen or the sweet liquid called nectar. As they visit the flowers, the pollinators brush against the reproductive parts of the flower, dropping the pollen from another flower they recently visited."
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_0...

Indiana Department of Natural Resources:
"Clump plants so the bees can find and visit many flowers in one location"
https://www.in.gov/dnr/entomolo/files/ep-Gardening_for_Honey...

U.S. National Park Service:
"Another way many species of bees can coexist in a small space is to visit only certain species of flowers. About one-fourth of the Park’s bees are such specialists, visiting only one species or a group of closely related species of flowers."
https://www.nps.gov/pinn/learn/nature/bees.htm

This may not be the only instance of anfliegen in Veronika's book, so I think you can keep this as an option.

Best
Björn Vrooman Oct 4, 2019:
PS Had to change a few words, I apologize. As always, I'm typing too fast and this preview screen is too small.
Björn Vrooman Oct 4, 2019:
... In a way, the BBC even combines your attract and my visit:
"In restored sites, plants produced more flowers and attracted more visits from pollinating animals, which was linked with the production of more fruit."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38800967

South East Wales:
"Standard pollinator observation techniques can be used to quantify visits to flowers, which provide a measure of the pollinator availability."
https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/app/uploads/2016/12/GIAPP.p...

University of Greenwich:
"Pollinator visits to flowers were much more frequent than by robbers but visits correlated negatively with nectar alkaloid concentration and declined sharply between 200-380ppm."
https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/17458/3/17458 STEVENSON_Dis...

Thus, I think yours is much more common, though at least this suggestion is not that unusual.

Best wishes
Björn Vrooman Oct 4, 2019:
Hello I cross-posted, basically (and I agree with "attract"). I posted in the d-box because I only wanted to give Veronika some options. I was cautious when it came to the verb (may be), but yes, there are very few examples.

The point about "approach" was that it really depends on the sentence (it sounds fine in the Guardian article).

As for visit (preferrably as a noun), here's the Botanical Society of the British Isles:
"Clearly pollinator visits to flowers of S. romanzoffiana during our time on Colonsay were infrequent."
https://archive.bsbi.org.uk/BSBINews106.pdf

Or The London Beekeepers' Association:
"It is estimated that honey bees need to fly 55,000 miles and make 4 million visits to flowers to produce a single pot of honey."
http://www.lbka.org.uk/forage.html

The Telegraph:
"...the former detective who invented the technique, have now used it to analyse patterns of visits to flowers made by foraging bees."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/334836...

[...]
Lancashireman Oct 4, 2019:
Hi Björn to frequent (verb) gardens - sure
to visit flowers (and pay their respects) - hmm...
to approach a flower (and then back off when rebuffed) ...
Björn Vrooman Oct 4, 2019:
@Veronika As for"the usual expression," there are several possibilities, such as

"approaches a flower"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/21/bees-flo...

"visits a flower"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_is...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zy66fg8/articles/zx4kt...

In your case, "frequent" as a verb may be an option:
"There are a large number of small solitary bees that also frequent domestic gardens e.g. masonary bees, mining bees etc."
https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/environment/pest-contr...

"Researchers have therefore been analysing which pollinators frequent certain crops..."
https://thefruitgrower.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/magazines/ma...

Or frequent visitors (to combine two of the suggestions above):
"While honeybees were the most frequent visitors to flowers of all species,
native bees made more visits to common than rare species..."
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42749696.PD...

Cf. https://getgardening.richardjacksonsgarden.co.uk/love-lavend...

Best

Proposed translations

+3
17 hrs
Selected

visit a flower

One way of expressing it in non-technical texts is "visit" ("besuchen").
Peer comment(s):

agree Anne Schulz : with credit to Björn
47 mins
neutral Lancashireman : Looking at asker's context as quoted above, how would you envisage this fitting in? "increasingly visited a flower"? // This was a reposting of an answer submitted three hours earlier.
1 day 6 hrs
agree Gordon Matthews : How about "many nectar-collecting insects visited the (pumpkin) flowers increasingly often"?
1 day 22 hrs
agree John Speese : "Visit" is what I would use too. It's fairly common in this context.
2 days 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+4
1 hr
German term (edited): eine [Blüte] verstärkt anflogen

were increasingly attracted to a [blossom]

The mode of approach (flying, walking or otherwise) is not at issue here.

(Re 'flocking': more appropriate to sheep or to fans at a large sporting or musical event)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2019-10-04 22:16:34 GMT)
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https://www.google.com/search?q=bees * attracted to the "&oq...
Peer comment(s):

agree Björn Vrooman : It's all good. Next up: trying to figure out how many answerers "visited" the d-box.
53 mins
Thanks, Björn. Sorry if I sounded overly sceptical in the DB.
agree philgoddard : There are many ways to say this. I agree about flocking, which doesn't sound quite right to me.
12 hrs
agree Daniel Arnold (X) : absolutely. were strongly attracted to ....
16 hrs
agree Armorel Young
1 day 21 hrs
Thanks. The German native-speaker asker went for the somewhat unnatural-sounding alternative.
Something went wrong...
+1
10 hrs

an unusually high number of pollinating insects were attracted to the blossom

A slightly different structure would fill the bill, I do believe. For me, the issue lies with 'verstärkt'.
Peer comment(s):

agree Lancashireman : Thanks for the support. The Germans decided to keep this one among themselves.
9 days
Something went wrong...
+1
14 hrs

significantly increased their visits to ...

Or ‘greatly increased ...’
Peer comment(s):

agree Lancashireman : OK, it's official. The insects "visited the flowers" (and paid their respects), but you got there first.
9 days
thanks
Something went wrong...
14 hrs

fly to a flower

I agree with this simple interpretation.
Something went wrong...
+1
25 mins

flock to blossoms

Nectar-gathering insects were increasingly flocking to pumpkin blossoms..

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 39 mins (2019-10-07 21:26:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You need a vivid verb here that mirrors the German, not some workaround. Contrary to commenters, "flocking" works perfectly well with insects:
"Insects are flocking to late-summer flowers."
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/gardeners-world/20190822/2816...
Peer comment(s):

agree Lancashireman : Especially if they were "shepherded" there: https://www.proz.com/kudoz/german-to-english/agriculture/671...
9 days
Something went wrong...
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