Farmers

Why use our pollination services?

Native pollinators assist in crop pollination however, they cannot be relied upon from year to year. Populations of these fluctuate greatly from year to year due to weather, lack of or destruction of habitat, and agricultural pesticide use.

Many crops require honey bees to transfer pollen in order to have a good seed set and ensure that a good fruit develops around these seeds.  As honeybees gather pollen and nectar for their survival, they pollinate crops; crops are 90-percent dependent on honeybee pollination.

Each year, farmers and growers continue to feed more people using less land. Honeybees are very much a part of this modern agricultural success story. Managed honey bees are the most efficient means to ensure successful pollination of a wide range of crops.

Farmers and tree growers have an indispensable role to play in our well-being and the environment. They contribute to food production and influence large sections of our landscape.

We work with farmers to improve the environment and the quality of life of future generations. 

Our high quality Pollination service is available to growers in the South East of England. We provide the required quantity of honeybee colonies in an appropriate condition to work at the time they are required. Our professional expertise ensures we can work with growers to ensure the optimum placement and density of hives for maximum pollination, with minimum disruption to other farm activities. 

Information about pollination and honeybees

Oilseed Rape (OSR) 

New research (2022) The research, published in Basic and Applied Ecology,  has uncovered a significant impact on oilseed rape when subjected to insufficient pollination, resulting in a reconfiguration of resource allocation towards growth and flowering. 

 A collaborative effort between the University of Edinburgh and the SRUC, led by PhD student Stace Fairhurst, revealed a compensatory response in oilseed rape plants facing pollination deficits. 

The affected plants grew taller, with a more open structure that rendered them vulnerable to external elements like strong winds. Additionally, they yielded fewer pods and a diminished number of seeds per pod.

Findings from the study highlighted a substantial reduction of 60 percent in fruit set for plants with pollen deficits, contrasting with the 78 percent set in adequately pollinated plants. Moreover, these plants produced 21 percent fewer seeds per pod than those effectively pollinated by insects and 14 percent fewer seeds compared to wind-pollinated plants.

Peas 

Peas are a crop that benefits from pollination, particularly by bees. While peas are largely considered to be self-pollinating (meaning they can transfer pollen within the same flower or between flowers on the same plant), cross-pollination  can still contribute to increased yields and quality.

Beans 

Field beans are part of a healthy crop rotation system, as they have the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil. Honey bee pollination supports successful field bean growth, contributing to sustainable agricultural practices and can increase by 138kg/ha

Borage

Each individual flower only lives for an average of 21.2 hours. High level of pollination is essential . A comprehensive three-year study conducted in Poland, authored by Stawiarz, Wróblewska, Masierowska, and Sadowska, and published in 2019. concluded that, a single borage plant boasts an average of 953 individual flowers. with an over flowering span of 56 days.  a single borage plant can supply insects with 1.1 grams of nectar sugars (total sugar content derived from the nectar) and 1.1 grams of pollen. 

Top Fruits and Soft Fruits

Honey bees need to be introduced to these crops once there is approximately five per cent blossom. This encourages the bees to work right away. If they are placed too early, they may search for other food sources away from target crops.

Honeybees can be used in a polytunnel or greenhouse environment for soft fruits. Yields can be increased by 30 per cent and fruit size can increase by ten per cent. 

Pollination

Pollination is a key ecosystem service, vital to the maintenance both of wild plant communities and agricultural productivity. Insect pollination, mostly by bees, is necessary for production in 84% of all crops in the Europe and 75% of the crops that are used directly as human food worldwide. In 2005, the economic value of insect pollination per year amounted to approximately £120 billion globally and about £440 million in the UK. Crop pollination services depend on both domesticated and wild pollinator populations, and both may be affected by a range of recent and projected environmental changes, with unknown consequences. There has been growing concern in recent decades about the fate of both domesticated and wild pollinators, leading to special initiatives by the Convention for Biodiversity (International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators) and a number of continental, national and regional programmes. Clearly, insect pollination is an important agricultural input. 

How to ensure that pollination services for food production remain reliable under the continuing threat of further losses of UK pollinators:

By identifying ways to provide sustainable pollination services we will contribute to food security, sustainable agricultural practices, maintenance of consumer choice for UK grown produce and ultimately to the nation's health and wealth. Specific beneficiaries include: Farmers and fruit growers. Given the strong evidence that managed and wild pollinators are in decline in the UK, the challenge is to ensure that the production of field and fruit crops which rely on insect pollination is not compromised. will fill a current  gap on the degree of dependency of UK crops on pollinators, allow the supply of pollination services to be properly matched to producer requirements. 

By helping producers safeguard their crops, under current and future threats of pollination shortfalls, we will help ensure that UK fruit varieties are maintained and readily available to retailers. This will make sure that UK produce is less likely to be replaced by imported equivalents, thereby supporting UK consumer choice for high quality local produce. 

We also supply all our clients with a rhubarb plant as part of our hive package which helps control varroa infestations in a natural chemical-free way (plus you get fresh rhubarb from it!). Click here to find out more.