Shared resources can act as hubs for pathogen transmission, with traits shaping risk. During foraging, pollinators may deposit feces containing pathogens on shared flowers; defecation patterns, pathogen survival and pathogen acquisition by new hosts can all be shaped by floral traits including floral arrangement. We experimentally manipulated the arrangement of inflorescences in space (horizontal versus vertical) to assess its influence on pathogen transmission mechanisms using *Bombus impatiens* bumble bees, the pathogen *Crithidia bombi*, and the plants *Securigera varia* and *Lotus corniculatus*. To measure defecation, we allowed infected bees to forage and then measured fecal deposits in individual cages with horizontal or vertical arrangements. We measured survival on flowers or leaves inoculated with *C. bombi* in each floral arrangement, and separately assessed pathogen acquisition from flowers or leaves in horizontal or vertical arrangements. We found that more defecation occurred on the flowers than leaves of horizontal inflorescences, with less defecation on flowers in vertical inflorescences. Pathogen survival and acquisition were higher on flowers than on leaves regardless of floral arrangement. This study highlights floral arrangement as an underexplored trait shaping pathogen transmission, with horizontal inflorescences likely increasing transmission due to greater deposition on flowers where pathogen survival and acquisition are highest.