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Bees are the main pollinators of the world’s flowering plants. In CA there are about 6,000 different species of flowering plants, and bees pollinate about 90% of these. These Native Bees have had a long history of evolution with the plants of CA and are a part of our natural ecosystem and heritage of the land.
In agriculture, the pollination service provided by bees is crucial. Approximately one-third of the value of CA agriculture comes from pollinator dependent crops. There is a long history of farmers relying on the pollination services of the non-native European honeybee. The European honeybee however, requires management and cultivation. Many farmers will rent honeybee colonies to be placed on their farm during flowering times for pollination. CCD or colony collapse disorder of European honeybees has been of major concern to farmers, eaters, and environmentalists worldwide.
Luckily, Frog Hollow Farm is home to a healthy and thriving colony of honeybees which are managed by Alan Hawkins and Ron Elandt . But honeybees are just one of the many species of bees that are thriving on the farm. As always, Farmer Al is looking for ways to make our farm more sustainable and productive. We are happy to be partnering with professor Gordon Frankie, a professor of Environmental Science Policy and Management at UC Berkeley, in his research on fostering native bees on farms.
Gordon and his team are looking to understand the bee flower relationship in order to provide recommendations for farmers on creating habitat gardens for bees and other pollinators, as well as how to maintain them. Part of Gordon’s research is on identifying plants that attract native bees and whose flowering time synchronizes with the flowering of specific crops, as well as to select plants that will be easy for a farmer to maintain.
Gordon says that finding plants that will attract native bees is easy, but finding those that can be used to build a habitat that will synchronize with crop flowering is tricky. The plants that comprise a habitat also need to provide shelter for bees to nest and overwinter so they will be ready to pollinate when the spring brings blossoms. Different species of bees have different nesting requirements – some are ground nesters while some are plant cavity nesters. A successful habitat will attract both an abundance of bees and diversity of bee species, so a diversity of plants is required to synchronize flowering time and to provide nesting habitat. Oh yes, and these plants should be fairly easy to maintain. The habitat plantings are ornamental plants and they require a different kind of management and care than row crops or orchard trees. So ease of management is also a crucial factor when identifying plants for farmers to add into their farmscape.
In collaboration with Dr. Frankie, we have planted about 25 species of native and non-native flowers, shrubs, and groundcovers throughout the farm to attract native bees. These habitat areas are scattered throughout the farm, with a recent emphasis on planting within orchard rows. Our habitat plantings account for about 13 acres in the orchard. These plantings have done numerous things to improve our farm. They have provided a lot of additional beauty – a ten-foot tall Vitex plant exploding with purple blossoms and buzzing with hundreds of busy bees is a sight to behold. The plantings also provide habitat for numerous other species including insects and birds – many of which are natural enemies of our orchard pests.
In wild areas adjacent to Frog Hollow, there are about 150 species of native bees. Thus far, Gordon and his team have identified 60 native bee species at FHF. Populations are healthy and abundant. He estimates that when he is done with his research 75-80% of bee species will be present.
For those of you coming out to the farm for the Fall Harvest Festival and taking the hayride, you’ll have a chance to see some of our habitat plantings. You will all have to be sure to make it out to our Spring Blossom Walk when all the orchard will be a buzz with the hum of native bees. But, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself; we have much delicious fruit to enjoy before then!
