The Value Of Honeybee Pollination

One third of our food supply must have bees. Many gardeners don't realize that occasional pollination is not enough. Each time the bees come, they rub against the sticky pistil and smear on more pollen grains. A watermelon blossom requires about 1000 grains of pollen, evenly spread across the three lobes of the pistil. This is not something that can be left to chance.

Many people believe that the production of honey is the biggest contribution of honey bees. However, their value as pollinators far exceeds their value as honey producers. According to the USDA in a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Hearing April 24, 2007, improved crop yields and crop quality attributable to honey bee pollination alone are valued at some $20 billion annually.

Apples, for example, which are completely dependent on insects for pollination, depend on honeybees for 90% of their over all pollination needs. If apple growers were to depend on wild pollinators, they would only realize 10% of their possible harvest. According to NC State University, in North Carolina the added value of managed honeybee pollination to apple growers in 2006 was $17,819,100,000.

Blueberries are as dependent as apples, with an added value of $43,870,500,000 to growers incomes in 2006, as in alfalfa with an added value of $69,523,200,000. Other crops that depend on honeybees for 80-90% of their fruit set are brambles, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins and squash.

Some crops are not as dependent on the honeybee, but benefits from managed honeybee pollination. Among those are grapes, peaches, strawberries, cotton, peanuts and soybeans.