GREENSBURG — In Greensburg Indiana, you will find the Tree City Bee Company, the fifth largest bee farm in the state.
This year they are featured farmers at the Indiana State Fair.
Most of us will think of honey when you think on honeybees, and rightfully so. However, they play a very important additional roll that you might not think of.
That is pollination.
Christian Rust is a bee farmer and one of the owners of the farm. He tells me that one in every three bites of food is a result of pollination from bees.
Without pollination, which is the fertilization of flowers or seeds we wouldn't have many of the fruits and vegetables we enjoy on our plates.
Honeybees will live for about 30 days. The first two weeks staying in the hive before venturing out the rest of their lives pollinating.
Bees will go from the hive and search for blooming flowers. They gather nectar and some pollen and return to the hive to spread the word.
In the hive they will do a waggle dance, yes you read the correctly, to let the other bees know. Once the dance is over the bees will go out and search for flowers and move from on to another pollinating in the process.
The bees will ping from the hive to the sun to the flower and back to the hive during the day flying up to three miles each day. Once they return the will bring back the nectar and pollen which eventually will produce honey.
During the winter the bees from the Tree City Bee Company are sent out on semi trucks to almond farms to pollinate there. However, no honey is harvested there. The nectar in almond flowers is not flavorful so the honey trays are not sent along.
Watermelon, pumpkins and other fruit and vegetable locally produce much better flavored honey.
So while honey is a product of bees, without the role of pollination, plants and trees will grow each year, but until pollinated they will never produce any crop.
We just don't rely on honeybees and other pollinators; we NEED THEM to help produce a sustainable ecosystem and we can all do little things to help.
When asked what can do to help bees Christian says "putting out plants that produce pollen and nectar for bees will just help everyone else and the help the bees the most".
