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zephyray

Bees and Pollination Requirements

19 years ago

I have a question for the experts here. By now we've all heard of the bees disappearing issue - Colony Collapse Disorder. No bees, no pollination for lots of our crops. My question is, which crops specifically require pollination by bees to be edible. In other words, is there a list of plants which flower AFTER the edible part of the plant develops (and is usually harvested) and thus pollination is not necessary for eating - unless we are specifically growing them to create seeds? For example lettuce, carrots, and onions produce there edible part first (whch actually seems odd, I'm used to thinking of the fruiting part coming after pollination) so pollination by bees is not necessary so long as your supply of seeds holds out (in worst case scenarios). Squash would be an example of a veggie that produces its edible part after pollination so it would be at risk from a lack of bees.

I'm reading of dire consequences for crops but is it mainly FRUIT that's at risk here?

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