Bee Keeping Pollination

Pollination is one of nature’s most amazing phenomena. Most of us take it for granted. Yet the act (or acts) of pollination are responsible for fully a third of all the food we eat and contribute over $34 billion to the United States economy annually.

Pollination is the process where the seed of the plant it fertilized. The role of the pollinator is to facilitate the transfer of pollen to the ovary of the flower to create a fertilized seed. In some cases, it’s the seed we eat such as in nuts. In most cases however, it’s the fruit that grows around the seed we are after as in apples, peaches, tomatoes, etc... In the absence of pollinators, we would not only be hungry, our whole ecology would collapse. The food we eat from pollinators is a tiny fraction of the variety and abundance of seeds and fruits that many species in the wild rely on as well.

While we often think of the honeybee when we hear the word pollinator, literally hundreds of other species of insects are involved in the process of pollination as

well. Honeybees are generalist pollinators meaning they a do pretty good job of pollinating many different species. However many species of plants need specialized insects in order to be pollinated. One common example is the tomato which needs bumble bees to vibrate the flower to release the pollen. Watermelons are another example, honeybees can and do pollinate melons but native bees are known to increase both the number and size of melons.

Insects are also not the only pollinators, in some cases birds, bats, lizards, and even mammals are known to pollinate certain plants. That said the honeybee is the most economically and ecologically important pollinator on earth. They are responsible for pollinating over 80% of our cultivated crops. Yet honeybees and many species of wild pollinators are struggling due to chemical poisoning and habitat loss. Beekeepers are experiencing 30-40% losses of hives annually, adding to the cost of the business of providing pollination services. Likewise many species of native, wild pollinators are on the decline though tracking those populations are difficult. Honeybees however can be considered a canary in the coal mine.

If you are concerned about the plight of honeybees and pollinators in general, you can help by supporting your local beekeeper by buy local honey. You can also help by being a smart consumer and look for sustainable and/or pollinator friendly labels on food products.

Submitted by the Beekeepers of Southwest Indiana