70% of the food we eat depends on bees.
A hive contains between 50,000 and 70,000 worker bees that are responsible for feeding the hive, thus pollinating your crops. Together, they will fly the equivalent distance from to the moon and back every day, pollinating about 10 million flowers.
Here you can see bees returning to the hive with orange pollen overflowing from their corbiculae (pollen baskets on their knees). Isn't it just the bee's knees?
​
​
On a single outing, a worker will visit 1,000 flowers and collect about 50mg of pollen - that is HALF of his body weight! This process takes him about 45 minutes, and can consist of a round trip of up to 6 km. The bees will do this 10 times a day, return to the hive to supply nectar and pollen, and communicate the location as well as quality of the food source with other bees.
​
Factors influencing pollination
Most crops require about 2-5 hives per hectare for pollination , but certain factors can affect pollination, such as:
01
The strength of the hive.
​
Bees that have just overwintered have fewer colony members and therefore have fewer pollinating bees. A good beekeeper will feed his / her bees to get them back to full strength faster (and therefore have more bees looking for food).
03
Or pesticides are sprayed during the pollination window.
Pesticides discourage bees from searching if there are alternative food sources available, so it is best to try to avoid spraying during the pollination window.
​
​
05
How far the hive is from a by-friendly water source.
Time spent flying to collect water is time wasted that could have been spent on pollination. By making water resources available to the hive, you can reduce bees' flight hours and exhaustion, and increase productivity.
​
07
The plants pollination window.
Flowers tend to have certain times of the day (and flowering season) when they are most receptive to pollination. Always make sure that the bees arrive 2 to 3 days before this window for best results.
09
Distance from the hives to the crop.
​
The further the bees have to travel, the less productive they can be. Placing the hives between the crop results in better yields, more efficient bees and less bee exhaustion.
​
​
​
11
Wind speeds.
​
​
High wind speeds make it difficult for the bees to fly, which results in fewer bees leaving the colony to collect pollen and nectar, thus pollinating the crop.
​
​
​
​
02
How attractive is the crop to bees.
Bees tend to pollinate one type of crop at a time. As a result, they tend to choose to collect from the variety that has the best pollen and nectar, so having weeds around a less desirable flower species results in a lower fruit set.
04
The type of irrigation and time of day it occurs.
​
Drip irrigation is the only irrigation method that does not affect the bees' flight. If you have another method of irrigation, it is wise to choose to water early in the morning / evening when the bees are not as active.
06
The temperature.
​
​
Bees do not leave the hive to pollinate when the temperature is below 10 ° C. Plants also need certain temperatures for fertilization to take place (For example, pollen tubes will only grow in apple blossoms between 18-27 ° C).
​
08
The arrangement of the beehives.
Bee hives that are not spread out enough, or hives facing towards each other can cause the bees to spend their time trying to rob other hives or to protect their honey from invaders. This leads to less productive bees and lower fruit set.
10
Arrangement between pollination variety and the crop.
Having a cross-pollinating crop usually yields better yields, and should be done at a ratio of about 1: 9 plants. The distance between the intended crop and the pollinator will also have an impact on how many flowers are fertilized.
12
Feeding the bees or using plant lures.
Unattractive flowers can be sprayed with a bee bait or pheromone that makes it look more attractive to the bees, or can be alternated with feeding stations to improve bee activity in that area.
​
If you are interested in the requirements and commercial value that offers bee pollination, you can download our handy spreadsheet here;