Title: Pollination, The Forgotten Agricultural Input
Description: Dr. M. (Tom) Sanford, Extension Specialist in Apiculture, University of Florida
Abstract:
Research over the last few decades has enabled agriculturists to make great strides in both quantity and quality of food and fiber produced. The amount of fertilizer, water, sunlight and other variables such as proper cultivation, weed management and pesticide application are well known for many cultivated crop varieties. One input, however, has often been left out of the process, pollination, the vital reproductive process of plants. This is easy to understand because pollination is extremely complex and often occurs in an open system with variables that are difficult to control. As a consequence a myth has been perpetuated that in many cases pollination will take care of itself.
Only in a few crops do we know for certain that pollination is absolutely essential for large-scale fruiting. The most striking is the California almond crop. The need for pollination is so intense that hundreds of thousands of honey bee colonies are moved into California each year, sometimes from as far away as Florida, just to attend to this vital function. Honey bees are extensively used in other crops, including apples, cranberries, blueberries, kiwifruit and cucurbit or vine crops. To a minor extent they are also used to pollinate strawberries, peppers, peaches, pears, plums and citrus. Finally, these insects are extensively employed in producing carrot, onion and other seed crops. It is estimated over 90 crops are benefited by honey bee pollination and the value of this service to the United States agriculture has been estimated to be about 18 billion dollars!
Because honey bee use is so universal, it is easy to be lulled into another myth. Honey bees are the best pollinators for almost all crops. This implies that these insects are somehow the most efficient pollinators. This is not the case. Because the honey bee is a cosmopolitan pollinator, it is not a specialist for many of the plants it visits. In addition, it is an introduced species into North America and as such has not co-evolved with plants native to the New World.
Perhaps the best example of a more efficient insect is the alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata). This alternative pollinator generates several million dollars of value each year. Other bees in common use are bumblebees (Bombus sp.), the imported hornfaced bee (Osmia cornifrons) and the domestic blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria. Other specialist bees, sometimes referred to as "pollen bees," also exist. One, the southeastern blueberry bee (Habropoda laboriosa), is a specialist on that native plant; the squash bee (Peponapis sp.) is found in close association with cucurbit or vine crops.
The purpose of this article is to describe commercial pollination using honey bees and compare and contrast that enterprise with one using alternative pollinators in specific situations. Research needs will also be identified to better determine what pollinator might be best under certain conditions. This will help agriculturists come to grips with the forgotten input, crop pollination