Fireweed honey is made in the clear mountain air.
Honey & Espresso will make your day.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.
The need for good pollination of food crops is recognized by growers throughout the world. In the large-scale plantings responsible for producing significant quantities of food, pollination is becoming big business. In California alone, 500,000 extra honey bee hives are moved in during the almond pollination period, resulting in over 1,000,000 bee hives in the state. Almond growers will pay beekeepers upwards of $150 US per hive because the pollination is so important to them. Here in the Fraser Valley, blueberry growers are dependent on honey bees - good pollination can double their fruit output. Good pollination results not only in more fruit, but also in fruit that is bigger and of better quality. Honey bees will visit a flower multiple times resulting in greater transfer of pollen and increased seed set. This is especially noticeable in plants which have multiple seeds in each fruit, such as raspberries and blueberries.
It is estimated that commercial pollination results in over $20 billion worth of food production in North America.
To find out which fruit benefit from bee pollination see this link.
