The Story of Pollination
Honey Bee pollinating plum blossom (Photo by Troy Fore)
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of that or another flower. Simply put, pollination is the first indispensable step in a process that results in the production of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
Without the honey bees’ pollination work, the quantity and quality of many crops would be reduced and some would not yield at all. According to a 2000 Cornell University study, the increased yield and quality of agricultural crops as a result of honey bee pollination is valued at more than $14.6 billion per year. In fact, approximately one-third of the total human diet is derived directly or indirectly from insect-pollinated plants (fruits, legumes and vegetables).
The USDA has estimated that 80 percent of insect crop pollination is accomplished by honey bees. While other insects can pollinate plants, honey bees are premier pollinators because they are available throughout the growing season, they pollinate a wide range of crops and they can be concentrated whenever and wherever they are needed.
Much honey bee pollination occurs naturally. A hobbyist beekeeper’s honey bees, for example, will pollinate a neighbor’s squash blossoms, herbs or fruit trees during the summer. Likewise, honey bees will pollinate the non-cultivated fruits, nuts and seeds that animals depend on for food in the wild.
"Lots of honey bees are needed to pollinate all these blooms” (Photo by George Hansen, Colton, Ore.)
To meet the demands of agriculture, however, special efforts are required. About one-half of the full-time beekeepers in the U.S. move their colonies from state to state and field to field during the year to provide pollination services to farmers as well as to reach abundant sources of nectar for honey production.
Thus, approximately 2 million colonies of bees are “on the road” each year to pollinate crops. Many of these bees are moved to California, where an estimated 1,000,000 colonies of honey bees are needed just to pollinate the almond crop. And, the demand for these tiny, efficient workers and their keepers continues to grow.
A healthy beekeeping industry is vitally important to a healthy agricultural economy, to wildlife habitat, to a healthy environment—and to the plants in your own backyard!
For more on how honey bee pollination benefits specific crops, visit http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/book/.
Text courtesy of the National Honey Board