Have you ever driven past a flowering paddock and spotted rows of beehives sitting nearby? They may not be there just to make honey. The bees could be helping pollinate the crop.
Some growers in the Timaru District work with beekeepers because certain seed, fruit and horticultural crops depend on insects to move pollen between flowers. When a crop begins flowering, managed honey-bee hives can be brought onto the farm so large numbers of bees are nearby at exactly the time they are needed.
The bees are not thinking about farming. They are looking for food. Flowers provide nectar for energy and pollen for protein. As a honey bee crawls over a flower, pollen sticks to the tiny hairs on its body. When it visits another flower, some of that pollen can rub off and help fertilisation happen. This can lead to seeds or fruit developing. The bee is not trying to make our food. It is looking for its own, and pollination happens along the way.
Good pollination takes planning. Farmers and beekeepers need to think about timing, weather, hive strength, where hives are placed, what else is flowering nearby and how sprays are used while bees are active. Simply putting hives beside a paddock does not guarantee success.
Honey bees are especially useful because beekeepers can move whole colonies, containing thousands of worker bees, to a crop for its short flowering period. But they are only part of the story. Bumblebees, native bees, flies, moths and other insects also help move pollen. Flowering shelter belts, native plantings and field margins can help support this wider community of pollinators.
So next time you see beehives beside a flowering paddock, look again. You may be watching part of the food-growing process: farmers, beekeepers, bees, other insects, flowers and the landscape all working together.