Truck drivers play an important role in pollination these days. As indigenous pollinator populations dwindle, farmers increasingly rely on commercial honey bees to pollinate their crops. And these bees must be transported thousands of miles from one farm to another. It’s a precise and intensive process. Learn about what goes into it from two brothers who have been hauling tens of millions of bees across the country since the 1990s.
Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat—everything from almonds and blueberries to bananas and cocoa—exists because of pollinators like bees, birds, and bats.
As they hop between flowering plants to drink nectar, these insects and small animals collect and carry pollen. The fine and sticky dust holds the genetic material the plants need to reproduce (watch them at work).
While pollinators are essential to agriculture and biodiversity, changes in land use and weather patterns are threatening native populations, posing serious threats to food security.
How Pollination Works
Over 80% of flowering plants have evolved to attract pollinators. Their bright colors, fragrance, and sweet nectar are all an effort to lure animals that can transport genetic material—contained in pollen—from the male reproductive organs of one plant to the female organs of another.
Nectaries are typically found at the base of the male organ that produces pollen, known as the stamen. Pollinators come to drink the nutritious, sugary liquid and leave with pollen clinging to their exoskeletons and feathers.
When they land on another flower for more nectar, a sticky tip on that plant’s female organ—called the pistil—collects the pollen and uses it to fertilize seeds.
Pollinators simultaneously came to favor certain flowers, increasing the odds they’ll carry pollen between identical plant species. And they developed traits to maximize nectar and pollen extraction from these plants. Bumblebees, for example, buzz to free pollen from tomatoes. Meanwhile, hummingbirds, with their long bills, prefer tubular flowers.
The minority of flowering plants that don’t depend on pollinators rely on wind to carry lightweight pollen grains through the air (like many grasses).
Decline of Pollinators
Pollinator populations have significantly declined in recent decades, with about 40% of invertebrate and 16% of vertebrate pollinators at risk of extinction. Habitat loss due to agricultural expansion and urbanization, pesticide use, and climate change have been identified as the leading causes.
The ripple effects are expansive, given that 35% of crops depend on pollinators. The small animals add over $200B to the global economy annually and are directly linked to human health. A 3%-5% decrease in pollinator-dependent food production can lead to 427,000 lives lost annually to nutritional deficiencies.
Though not native to the US, honeybees are responsible for more than $15B of the nation’s agricultural productivity. Importing, breeding, and trucking them cross-country to commercial farms became popular as wild bee populations dwindled. Then, when the honeybees began mysteriously disappearing in the mid-2000s—a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder—they became the poster child for several initiatives to save pollinators. Many theories exist about the disorder's origins, from pesticide poisoning to stress, but scientists have yet to reach a widespread consensus.
Meanwhile, critics argue honeybees, as part of a lucrative beekeeping industry, have overshadowed the decline of wild pollinators. While honeybees have largely rebounded, many wild bee populations remain alarmingly low, with some North American species down by 96% in the last two decades.
What's Being Done
Many campaigns to save pollinators focus on actions individuals can take, from growing native plants in backyard gardens to buying organic foods to disincentivize pesticide use.
Solar energy companies have also begun experimenting with planting native plants under solar panels to restore pollinator habitats. Early studies found the practice can also reduce maintenance costs at solar facilities over time by lowering mowing and herbicide expenses, suggesting a new synergy between clean energy goals, biodiversity and agriculture.
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One-third of the world’s food supply relies on pollinators, yet many species are in decline due to habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change. A drop in pollination could have serious consequences for global nutrition.
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What plants attract what pollinators? It’s a question conservationists ask when considering where to reintroduce rare plants, as they want to do so in regions that can also sustain the necessary pollinators. Pretend you're a conservationist and click around this site to explore pollinator networks.
You can help revitalize pollinator populations by planting native plants in your backyard, whether urban, rural, or suburban. Some plants provide the flowers (and their pollen and nectar), while others act as nests or hosts for key pollinators like caterpillars and bees. Explore these regional guides to learn which plants will grow well in your area and what critters they’ll attract.
Caffeine gives honey bees a kick too! Bees are three times more likely to remember and return to a flower if its nectar contains caffeine. Plants want pollinators to keep coming back, so the finding suggests that some plants, like Citrus and Coffea species, evolved to include caffeine in their nectar. Researchers say this finding could both advance our understanding of how caffeine affects human and animal brains, as well as how to reinvigorate pollinator populations.
Poet and nonfiction writer Heather Swan meditates on how agriculture has evolved to be harmful to pollinators – from the use of pesticides to monocropping – and what farmers can do to reverse course. Her findings unfold alongside her travels to a handful of farms, some entrenched in harmful practices and others actively trying to be better stewards of the land. Is the next generation of farmers ready to rediscover the balance between cultivation and wilderness, she asks?
Pollinating California’s almond farms requires far more bees than naturally live in the area, causing demand for domesticated honey bees to skyrocket. The typical cost of a hive shot from $35 to $200 in just a few years. This newfound money in pollination has incentivized some to steal hives in the dark of night. Kidnapped bees became such a large problem in 2020, that some police departments in California began specializing in “hive crime,” The Guardian reports.
Commercial beekeepers are increasingly breeding honey bees on public lands, raising concerns among environmentalists that they’ll compete with and introduce new diseases to already threatened native pollinator populations. But beekeepers say they’re running out of space, and honey bees infuse billions of dollars annually into the nation’s crop production. Read about scientists' efforts to better understand how domesticated honey bees and native bees interact in light of this tension.
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