Why the food industry thrives on bee pollination
When people think of bees, they usually think of honey. No wonder, since bees make this wonderful sweetener and flavor. But bees impact our food system in more ways than just making honey. Bees are responsible for more than a third of the food we eat.
Let’s think about it for a moment. On average, a bee is responsible for every third bite of food consumed by humans. These enable commercial production of more than 90 different crops. Bees are responsible for giving the world most of its guacamole, pumpkin pie, and nutty food bars. They also ensure the flavor of our food by pollinating cinnamon, garlic, parsley and coriander.
Bees are one of the world’s most important pollinators and play a key role in maintaining biodiversity and ensuring plant reproduction. Their work in pollination supports not only natural ecosystems but also agricultural systems.
The natural mechanism of bee pollination
Bees pollinate flowering crops, plants, trees, shrubs, and weeds in search of food. When a bee is looking for food, they are looking for two things.
- Honey = carbohydrates
- pollen = protein
Fortunately for us and the bees, both of these dietary needs are found in flowers. Bees move from flower to flower collecting nectar and pollen, but they accidentally transfer pollen from the male part (anther) of one flower to the female part (stigma) of another flower. In natural ecosystems, bee pollination ensures the reproduction of many flowering plants and promotes biodiversity.
Bees are such effective pollinators because they have hairy bodies and pollen baskets (corbiculae) on their hind legs that allow them to collect and transport pollen effectively. Beekeepers can safely manage and move large numbers from crop to crop.
Impact of honey bees on the food industry
Check out the ingredient list for popular food bars.
- oats
- Almonds – Requires bee pollination
- honey – made by bees
- Almond butter – requires bee pollination
- tapioca fiber
- Dried apples – need bee pollination
- White meat
- Cinnamon – requires bee pollination
- Vanilla Extract – Benefits from Bee Pollination
- sea salt
Without bees, this product and others like it would not exist. It’s easy to see and understand for yourself the impact that bee pollination has on our food supply.Please print this list bee pollinated foodcross-reference with the raw materials used.
Bees help the food industry thrive, so it’s important for food and beverage manufacturers to support the honey industry. By using honey in product formulations, manufacturers can help beekeepers keep hives healthy and crops pollinated.
