Supporting Pollinators

Supporting Pollinators

Supporting Pollinators. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.

Each year orchardists depend on pollinators for their crop. Many will rent bee hives from beekeepers to make sure there is adequate pollination but last year saw the second largest decline in bee populations. One of the main culprits is also one of farmings biggest tools, pesticide. Bill Hairston - SeedGrowth Director of Product Development for Bayer CropScience says to keep bees healthy while improving crop yields it's important for growers and beehive owners to communicate with each other.

HAIRSTON: The owners of hives can help by being sure the growers are aware of where their hives are located and growers can help by communicating with the owners of hives during times of pesticide application. And as an example a grower can work to avoid spraying up-wind in close proximity to hives.

There have been very few incidents of exposure in the U.S. - but still - Hairston says Bayer is working to ensure growers are doing everything they can to reduce any potential exposure to bees.

HAIRSTON: Honeybees are also very important because a significant number of our food crops are dependent on honeybees in order to maximize pollination and consequently yield so crops like almonds, apples, blueberries are just a few examples so without an adequate honeybee population yields in these crops would suffer. Along with other industry partners, Bayer is working to increase bee habitat with our Bayer Feed-A-Bee campaign.

To learn more visit Bee Health dot Bayer dot US.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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