We beekeepers are enthralled with bee pollinators, but the natural world is brimming with different types of pollination. Many animals pollinate flowers, but the major pollinator is the wind. Even flowing water can be a pollinator. In this quiz, I list twelve types of pollination. Although many overlap—such as insect pollinators and bee pollinators—some are […] Read more
Here is the problem. Over there, just beyond a tall hedgerow, is a vast field of wildflowers. Many of those plants need insect pollinators to move their pollen from flower to flower. Over here, just outside your garage, is a thriving honey bee colony with lots of brood to feed. Pollen is an essential part […] Read more
On the nearly perpendicular hillside behind my house, fighting for space among the ferns and stinging nettles, the wild black raspberries grow. Sweet, intensely purple, and lightly hairy, these berries are my special treat. I collect them every summer, risking their savage recurved spines and the perilous embankment. At the end of each session, my […] Read more
Some questions reach out to me. Upon reading this one, I imagined a muscular hulk with diaphanous wings and hairy legs daintily kissing tiny alder flowers with sloppy brown lips, gently spreading their seed amidst the vernal grass-green tree tops. I thought is was a joke and it made me laugh. But when a similar question […] Read more
Like mushrooms on the forest floor, new pollinator charities pop up every week. About a month ago, one of these nascent groups asked if I would endorse them and link to their website. This is a common request, so I know what to look for. Within 30 seconds of landing on their home page—of which […] Read more
Beekeeper Kenneth Rhodes sent these pictures of canola pollination that he took about a mile west of Shelley, Idaho. He writes: These hives are owned by the Browning Honey Company, one of the largest honey producers in the United States. This is the outfit that mentored me in beekeeping for the first year and whom […] Read more
While traipsing through the farmer’s market last weekend, I met a beekeeper with an interesting question. Having heard that honey bees are poor pollinators of alfalfa, she wanted to know where alfalfa honey comes from. How does that work? Honey bees are, indeed, second-rate pollinators when it comes to alfalfa. When the bee sits on […] Read more