More Than Honey

The real value of honey bees happens in flowers



Honey may be the product most associated with honey bees, but agriculture depends on them for something even more important: pollination.

Managed honey bee colonies can be moved to farms and orchards when crops bloom. Foragers visit flowers for nectar and pollen, carrying pollen between blossoms as they work. That service helps produce crops ranging from almonds and berries to melons and tree fruits.

Honey bees are not the only pollinators, and many crops also benefit from native bees and other insects. But managed colonies can be deployed in large numbers exactly when growers need them.

So the value inside a hive is not measured only in pounds of honey. Sometimes its greatest contribution is growing somewhere else—in an orchard, field, or garden.