This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Bees not only produce honey andwax, they also provide an important service to farmers. Many cropsrequire bees to pollinate them.
Bees gather sweet liquid called nectar from flowers. As they dothis, the reproductive material of the flowers, pollen, sticks tothe bee. Pollen travels from plant to plant this way.
More than ninety different fruits, vegetables, nuts and seedcrops depend on bees for reproduction. Also, many flowers grown fortheir beauty need bees to pollinate them.
In the United States, the secretary of agriculture appointsindustry leaders to the National Honey Board. This group providesproduction information about the honey and beekeeping business. Onereport used by the board studies the use of bees to pollinate crops.The report says bees pollinated about fourteen-thousand-six-hundredmillion dollars in crops in two-thousand.
Selling the services of bees as pollinators is also an importantbusiness. In the state of California, the almond-growing industryhas required more bee colonies for pollination. The valuable nutsare an increasing export crop for California.
Bees pollinate almost all almond and apple trees. Vegetables likebroccoli, carrots, celery and onions require bee pollination.Experts say even crops that do not require bee pollination can beincreased with the help of bees. Also, the quality of many cropsdepends on the amount of pollination they receive. Crops like applescan grow unevenly if bees do not provide enough pollen for goodreproduction.
Pollinated crops supply much of the vegetable fats in the humandiet. As much as one-third of all food products are directly orindirectly linked to bee pollinated crops. Bee pollination is acentral activity in the food supply chain.
The United States is estimated to have more thantwo-million-five-hundred-thousand colonies used to pollinate crops.Between two and four colonies are needed to pollinate one hectare ofmost crops. Farmers pay between forty and seventy dollars for theuse of each colony.
Today, many beekeepers see pollination as a more importantactivity than producing honey. Many farmers see bee pollination as agood investment because it improves the quality and productivity oftheir crops.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter.