Dietary staples we consume every day depend on animal pollinators such as bees, bats, birds, insects (ants, wasps, beetles and moths), bats and birds for pollination; such animals account for one-third of global food supplies pollinated by bees alone!
Pollen is a powdery material made up of plant sperm that takes on various shapes in order to avoid cross pollination.
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Cucurbits
Many fruits, vegetables and nuts we eat depend on pollination by bees for pollination – some scientists estimate that up to one out of every three bites we eat require bee pollination!
Food grains such as wheat, rice and corn do not require pollination (parthenocarpy); however, most flowering crops rely heavily on bees to ensure successful reproduction.
Bees visit flowers to collect nectar, but when they collect pollen grains they use special hairs on their bodies to attract and collect pollen grains from those flowers. Once collected, bees groom them into special pockets on their legs and body before transporting it between flowers within their species for cross-pollination – this process fertilizes female parts of plants that produce seeds in what’s called cross-pollination. Bees play an especially vital role in this process for crops such as cucumbers, melons, and squash which start flowering during July/August when flowering begins!
Tropical Fruits
Modern agriculture relies heavily on pollinators. Bees are estimated to contribute up to 80% of pollination for certain crops and without them American dinner plates would likely be very empty indeed.
Banana (Musa paradisiaca) has long been considered an indispensable staple in tropical regions and now grown worldwide in all climates.
Durian (Durina sexydora) is a beloved tropical fruit native to China that has spread around the world. This unique, spiny fruit resembles both coconuts and pineapples with soft custard-like flesh for maximum aroma.
Blueberries and Cranberries depend on solitary bees such as the Coastal Blueberry Bee Bombus impatiens and Rusty Patch Bumble Bee Megachile addenda for successful harvesting, while Carrot Mining Bee Andrena nitidiuscula plays an integral part in pollinating Brassica plants such as Cabbage, Mustard Seed Rape Turnip Kale etc.
Tea
Some plants, like bananas and plantains, do not require insect pollinators for fruit production (parthenocarpy). Meanwhile, others like many root vegetables and leafy crops require pollinators insects for pollination purposes.
Bees visit flowers to collect nectar, and are carried from one flower to the next by wind or water currents. When visiting, bees transfer pollen grains between flowers; when one lands on a stigma of one of them, fertilization occurs and seeds form from that blossoming bloom.
Bees, along with bats and birds, play an indispensable role in pollinating fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, their population numbers are threatened by disease, parasites, habitat loss and loss. Many wild and managed bee colonies are on the verge of collapse which threatens agriculture as well as other food production systems to thrive.
Chocolate
Bees play an indispensable role in pollination of many foods we eat every day – such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and even cotton fibers for consumption and alfalfa hay for livestock feed – pollinated by bees. Bees also account for one out of every three bites we take of food we ingest!
On a single foraging trip, worker bees visit hundreds of flowers in order to gather nectar and pollen, providing potential sources of protein, fats, minerals, vitamins that could later end up in our food supplies.
Many medicines we take come from plants pollinated by bees. Aspirin comes from Willow and Aspen trees while morphine for surgical pain relief comes from Opium Poppy plants pollinated by Bumble bees and Andrena mining bees. Other life-saving and disease modifying medicines come from Tropical Periwinkle pollinated by Honey bees, such as those to treat childhood Leukaemia.
Cotton
Three out of every five bites of food we consume depend on animal pollinators such as honey bees, bats, birds and insects for pollination – without them, life would be much harsher and harsher in our world.
Bees are responsible for many of our favorite fruits, vegetables and nuts–including cotton (the fluffy staple fibre that comes in golf ball-sized bolls) and alfalfa (used to feed livestock). For these crops to flourish they require pollination – where pollen transfers between male and female parts of flowers of the same species to fertilize its ovaries and produce seeds. Not only is pollination vital to human food sources but wild and domestic animals who depend on this pollen as sustenance–including dairy cows and sheep who depend upon alfalfa/clover for feed which requires bee pollination!
