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A European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) flying back to its hive carrying pollen in a pollen basket. Credit: Wikimedian Muhammad Mahdi Karim.
pollination:
The act of spreading pollen for fertilization. In flowering plants, pollination takes place when pollen grains from the male anther are carried to the female stigma. Pollination can be carried out by the wind, which blows the pollen grains from one flower to another, or by insects, or other animals which accidentally carry the pollen grains on their bodies as they gather nectar or simply brush past. Self-pollination occurs when pollen from an anther is deposited on a stigma in the same flower.
