Agriculture Pollination by honey bees is as vital to the production of many crops as water and sunlight. There is no substitute! One third of our daily diet relies on honey bee pollination. Almonds, apples, sweet cherries, plums and prunes are examples of crops that require crosspollination between varieties in order to produce a crop. Bee pollination is necessary for the production of cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and melons. Twenty-one additional California fruit and nut crops are known to produce larger yields when pollinated by honey bees. These fruit, nut, and vegetable crops were worth $4.4 billion in 2002 - a value approximately 35 times greater than the income generated directly by the beekeeping industry.
The greatest value of honey bee pollination is associated with the production of seeds that will have worldwide distribution. Twenty vegetables, including asparagus, carrots, celery, onions, radishes, and turnips produce seeds only when their flowers have been adequately pollinated. Likewise, seed production of forage crops such as alfalfa, various clovers, trefoil, and vetch, requires many visits by foraging bees. Including the "indirect" value of honey bee pollination (meat, dairy products, vegetables, hay, etc.), honey bees are responsible for nearly half of California's agricultural production (cash receipts for farm marketing), which is currently valued above $30.0 billion. Thus, honey bee pollination is really worth in excess of 400 times the intrinsic earning power of the bees to beekeepers.
Can y'all ship some of them mites down here to Texas to help with the Killer bees?