CEP Calgary x March: Bees and other pollinators

Did you know that pollinators are necessary for three-quarters of our major food crops? The majority of our vitamins and minerals come from fruits, vegetables and nuts and these all use animal-mediated pollination. Even the food that livestock eats (alfalfa hay) needs pollination. There are also an estimated 300,000 species of flowering plants that require animal pollinators. Although honey bees are often the first to come to mind, there are a variety of other pollinators – insects, birds and even bats.

Pollination is a win-win situation for both bees and humans – they require plants for their own protein and carbohydrate needs and hop from plant to plant, thus pollinating as a by-product. Hand pollination of crops is costly, time consuming and not as effective. The supercolony of honey bees is a mind-blowing concept – from social healthcare to how they develop work regimes – and there is a lot…