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Fireweed honey is made in the clear mountain air.Pollination
Pollinating Berry Crops
Pollination of Berry Crops: The cheapest and easiest way to produce more and better berries
Pollination is not often considered in the same terms as fertilizer or water, but is just as important.
Pollination is the process of transferring pollen from the stamens of one flower to the pistil of a neighbouring flower.
Pollen is collected when it becomes entangled in the dense branched hairs on the bee's body. A bee will make 1-50 pollen collecting trips per day, visiting 50-350 flowers per trip.
What Plants Need Pollination by Insects?
People often wonder about the need for honey bee pollination. After all, their garden always seems to have fruit.
There are many factors to consider when thinking about pollination. Many wild insects will carry out pollination, such as bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies, flies, ants, wasps, and wild honey bees. In small plots with lots of surrounding natural habitat for these species, there is often no need for additional pollinators. Different plants also have different pollination needs. Some plants such as corn are entirely wind pollinated, while others such as kiwifruit are entirely dependent on insect pollination.
Bees Increase Berry Size in Raspberries and Blackberries
James Cane, a researcher at the Agricultural Research Service in Utah, has been studying the effects of pollination by the honey bee Apis mellifera and the solitary bee Osmia lignaria in raspberries and blackberries. These plants are generally self-pollinating, meaning it is not necessary to place pollinating units (beehives) into fields to ensure fruit production. Dr. Cane found that there was a significant increase in berry size when the flower was pollinated by bees compared with self-pollination, with berries visited by bees being 30 percent heavier. This appears to be because these flowers have multiple pistils and insect pollination results in a larger number of pistils receiving pollen, resulting in the development of larger fruit. Read more here.
Honey Bees Guard Plants from Predators
Many caterpillars have fine hairs on their bodies that detect air vibration. They use these hairs to detect the presence of predatory wasps. When they sense vibrations in the air, they stop moving or drop to the ground.
