Posted on Jul 3, 2023
Honeybee deaths rose last year. Here's why farmers would go bust without bees
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/03/ [login to see] /honeybee-deaths-rose-last-year-heres-why-farmers-would-go-bust-without-bees
If you like to eat blueberries, apples, almonds, and other fruits that require pollination, you can thank a honeybee. Farmers could not grow these crops without the essential service bees provide.
"We depend on honeybees for our existence," says Hail Bennett, 36, of Bennett Orchards, in Frankford, Del, which has just opened its fields to u-pick visitors for peak season.
Each spring, just as his blueberry bushes are flowering, Bennett rents loads of bees from a commercial beekeeper. For three weeks, the bees buzz around moving millions of grains of pollen within and between flowers in order to pollinate the plants.
"It's pretty amazing how much work the bees have to do," Bennett says. There are millions of flowers on his six acres of blueberries and "each flower has to be visited six to eight times by a honeybee in order to be fully pollinated," Bennett explains as he splits open a plump berry to inspect its seeds.
If you like to eat blueberries, apples, almonds, and other fruits that require pollination, you can thank a honeybee. Farmers could not grow these crops without the essential service bees provide.
"We depend on honeybees for our existence," says Hail Bennett, 36, of Bennett Orchards, in Frankford, Del, which has just opened its fields to u-pick visitors for peak season.
Each spring, just as his blueberry bushes are flowering, Bennett rents loads of bees from a commercial beekeeper. For three weeks, the bees buzz around moving millions of grains of pollen within and between flowers in order to pollinate the plants.
"It's pretty amazing how much work the bees have to do," Bennett says. There are millions of flowers on his six acres of blueberries and "each flower has to be visited six to eight times by a honeybee in order to be fully pollinated," Bennett explains as he splits open a plump berry to inspect its seeds.
Honeybee deaths rose last year. Here's why farmers would go bust without bees
Posted from npr.org
Farming
Agriculture
Wildlife
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel My son had eight colonies of bees for a few years then one year he lost six to colony collapse disorder. He has talked about starting the vacant hives back up but so far that is just talk. Without bees we would be in a world of hurt. I don't think the American public realizes just how important the bee is to our existence and survival.
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