Honey bees are essential to the global food supply. Did you know that 35 percent of the world’s food crops rely on pollinators to some degree?
As almond bloom wraps up over the next few weeks, honey bees that came to California to pollinate almonds will be transported by beekeepers to their next important pollination event.
Throughout the year, beekeepers bring their bees to different locations across the U.S., pollinating over 90 different crops, starting with our favorite nut, and then heading off to pollinate apples, cherries, melons, blueberries, pumpkins, avocados, squash, sunflowers and more, and make honey.
During the winter, honey bees feed on the honey they have produced, though beekeepers can supplement this with sugar water and plant-based protein powders. Then each spring, it begins again – they come back to almond orchards for their first natural food source of the year which supports a healthy start to another pollination season.
Watch this video to learn more about the impact bees have around the United States:
To learn more about the relationship between almonds and bees, please visit almonds.com/bees, and make sure to follow along with this year’s almond bloom on social media with the hashtag #almondbloom.
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USDA-ERS. Land Use, Land Cover and Pollinator Health: A Review and Trend Analysis. July 2017.
