may make a dozen or more trips 

 from the hive, and it may visit sev- 

 eral thousand flowers. But on each 

 trip it usually confines its visits to 

 one plant species, collecting one kind 

 of nectar and distributing one kind 

 of pollen. This characteristic, cou- 

 pled with its hairy body, enables the 

 honey bee to accumulate and dis- 

 tribute an abundance of pollen, and 

 makes it our most valuable agent for 

 cross-pollinating crops. 



Beekeepers maintain honey bee 

 colonies in most agricultural areas. 

 They are usually equipped to move 

 colonies easily and quickly to any 

 location to concentrate bee pollina- 

 tion activity in areas where most 

 needed. 



lespedeza (bush); *trefoil; vetch 

 (*hairy, and purple.) 



Fruit crops 



* Apple; apricot; avocado; berry 

 (blackberry, ^blueberry, boysen- 

 berry, * cranberry, gooseberry, rasp- 

 berry, and strawberry) ; cherry ; cit- 

 rus (grapefuit, *mandarin orange, 

 *tangelo orange, and * tangerine) ; 

 grape (some varieties) ; mango; 

 musk melon (^cantaloup, casaba, 

 citron, *honeydew, and Persian) ; 

 nectarine; *peach; *pear; persim- 

 mon ; *plum, and *prune. 



Nut crops 



* Almond ; chestnut ; coconut ; and 

 macadamia. 



CROPS POLLINATED BY 

 BEES 



Some of the crops that require, or 

 at least benefit from, bee pollination 

 are listed below. The alphabetical 

 lists are grouped into forage and 

 legume crops, fruit crops, nut crops, 

 vegetable crops, and miscellaneous 

 crops. Not included are range 

 plants, ornamentals, medicinals, 

 spices, and forest trees — many of 

 which are also pollinated by bees. 

 Crops marked with an asterisk often 

 are stocked with hives to provide 

 supplementary pollination by honey 

 bees and thereby increase yields. 



Forage and legume crops 



* Alfalfa; buckwheat; clover (al- 

 sike, berseem, crimson, Egyptian, 

 ladino, *red, rose, strawberry, and 

 white) ; * crown vetch ; sweet clover 

 (*hubam, sour, * white, *yellow) ; 



Oilseed crops 



*Cotton; flax; *rape; *safflower; 

 soybeans ; ^sunflower ; and Tung. 



Vegetable crops 



Asparagraus; broccoli; Brussels 

 sprout; *carrot; cauliflower; cel- 

 ery ; Chinese cabbage ; collard ; ^'cu- 

 cumber; eggplant; kale; kohlrabi; 

 leek ; *lima bean ; mustard ; *onion ; 

 parsley; pepper; pumpkin; *rad- 

 ish; rutabaga; squash; * turnip; 

 and watermelon. 



RENTING HONEY BEE 

 COLONIES 



Honey bee colonies can be rented 

 in some areas either from a custom 

 pollination service or from a local 

 beekeeper. In both cases, obtain a 

 written contract or agreement that 

 covers the following — 



• Number and strength of colo- 

 nies to be used. 



