Pollinator protection is a hot topic at the moment, and deservedly so. In order to feed a global population of 7.7 billion people, we must control unwanted pests that damage food crops, without killing the insects that help produce the food; this predominantly means bees. Various claims are purported as to the proportion of our food that derives from bee pollination, whether that is 30% or 50% or 90% it is largely immaterial; the key consideration is that bees must be protected along with the food source.
In this context, it is essential to include not only蜜蜂but also the wild bees, the largely unseen contributors to pollination, such asbumblebees和孤独的蜜蜂. Nature has evolved over millions of years to ensure that bees transfer pollen and pollinate the plant and receive nectar and pollen in compensation.
Read our eBook,Neonicotinoids: The Science and Regulatory Complexity了解新烟碱素如何影响全球蜂蜂群及其监管地位的更多信息。
授粉的过程是什么？
授粉是从花的男性部分的花粉的运动（雄蕊), to the female part of a flower (柱头). The process may take place in the same flower, or a different flower on the same plant, or a flower on a different plant, and could be carried out by the wind, mammals, birds, but primarily by insects.
When the pollen contacts the sticky surface of the stigma, it may germinate and create a pollen tube which reaches an ovary of the flower where it fuses with an ovule to create a seed. This, in turn, stimulates the formation of the fruit.
Previously, with small fields and rich habitats, the pollination was done by wild bees. Nowadays, with huge fields and depleted insect populations, it is necessary to actively manage the pollination, which is extensively conducted by the honeybee.
Variety and Complexity of Pollination of Crops
To illustrate some of the diversity and complexities of pollination of crops, consider the following examples:
1.Apples
Pollination of the apple is the archetype of crop pollination. Pollen from a tree of one variety is carried to a tree of a different variety. Each flower has five ovaries, and each ovary has two ovules; completepollination of applesoccurs when ten seeds are formed. The presence of a seed produces hormones that stimulate the transport of resources, which make the fruit plump, juicy, colorful and tasty. Even with fewer than ten seeds in an apple, it can be attractive and nutritious, but with fewer seeds, the fruit is less hardy. Growers generally control the amount of pollination carefully, as over-pollination may produce an excess of fruit, which needs to be thinned.
2. Bananas
相反，香蕉不需要授粉，这种水果是由此产生的mechanism of parthenocarpy，即，生产没有任何种子的水果。其他可以设定占度的作物（但不一定）是无花果，菠萝，葡萄和无籽柑橘如普通话。
3. Berry Fruits
Berry fruits such asraspberries和草莓需要大量的调查ination. For example, a single strawberry may have 300 stigmas, and a raspberry 90. Thorough pollination of the crop will produce fruit of uniform color, softness, shape, and sweetness, whereas incomplete pollination produces misshapen, discolored fruit with hard, undeveloped patches.
杏仁
The commercialpollination of almondsis one of the most extraordinary events in agriculture, with 2 million beehives moved from every corner of the U.S. to California to pollinate 400,000 hectares of orchard. The almond tree is unusual in that it is almost impossible to over-pollinate it. In essence, with no bees, the crop will be effectively zero; with an abundance of bees, the crop will be more bountiful.
The dilemma that growers and beekeepers encounter is, almost all the available commercial bee colonies in the U.S. are used to pollinate almonds. Thus facilitating the likely spread of diseases and parasites to the entire bee colony. Another serious bout of Colony Collapse Disorder will threaten both the crop and livelihoods of farmers and beekeepers.
One approach is to use a solitary bee called the blue orchard bee () alongside honeybees. The contrasting biologies and behaviors of the different bee species complement each other and yield better results than the use of a single species. However, it is a long process to develop the necessary techniques to manage both wild solitary bees with commercially managed honeybees.
5.猕猴桃
如前所述，蜜蜂在花蜜方面的授粉中的作用得到奖励，但有时候，这未能发生这种情况。例如，奇异果和雄性的花朵一起生长为葡萄藤。雄性和女性花卉都会产生花粉，但是来自女性的花粉是无菌的，营养不那么营养，没有生产花蜜。
As is obvious from cutting open a ripe kiwi fruit, there are many hundreds of seeds, meaning that a large number of pollen grains, between 1,000 and 2,000, must be transferred for every fruit. With poor rewards and the reluctance of bees to move between male and female flowers, the grower falls back on a policy of inundating the field with bees. Moreover, bees will abandon kiwis, if more attractive forage is available.
6. Greenhouse Crops
Over the last 40 years, the production of tomatoes, eggplant, and bell peppers has been transformed by the adoption ofbumblebees as commercial pollinators，这些植物现在已经在大量玻璃静脉中生长。这些植物的花朵需要剧烈的干预，将花粉从雄蕊上摇动，然后通过紧密的花冠释放到耻骨上。这是通过悬挂在花的下侧面的蜜蜂实现的;大黄蜂有一种称为Buzz授粉的技术，实现了这一点。
7. Oil Seed Crops
On the whole, oilseed crops, particularly油菜油菜are not pollinated commercially as the plant is capable of self-pollination by wind agitation. When grown for seed, or bred for high-value oil extraction, however, the grower may hire honeybee colonies to assist pollination.
8. Seed Production
很容易忽视种子生产的关键方面，在维护我们的食品供应方面。种子的质量与生产质量直接相关。例如，随着较大的种子具有更多营养储量的单个种子重要的大小，但授粉行为的速度影响了生产的质量。当授粉快速有效时，花朵向下关闭并快速下降，限制了花零件暴露于模具的时期。例如，在这些情况下产生的种子含有更少的僵尸菌。结果在幼苗，成熟植物或其花椰菜中不可见;只有当它在超市时，这可能是显而易见的，自由植物的蔬菜将具有更长的保质期 - 对于零售商和种植者来说都是一个很大的优势。
9.洋葱和胡萝卜种子
Unlike the previous example of brassica seed,onions和carrotsare notoriously difficult to pollinate for seed. Onions have been bred to suit the human palate, resulting in a high potassium content in the vegetable. This is also expressed in the nectar and pollen; which honeybees find abhorrent. The only successful method in producing onion seed is to overwhelm the crop with bees, before replacing them several days later with new colonies.
Carrots are difficult to pollinate for a different reason – they are morphologically a fly-pollinated plant, so the reward for honeybees is limited.
10. F1杂交种子生产
Only by careful breeding of the separate maternal and paternal lines, and controlling the movement of pollen canF1 hybrid seeds生产。这些是种子生产者眼中的奖品，尽管价格额外的价格，更大的途径和更健康的生产。
11.肉和牛奶
These are unusual candidates for a discussion on pollination, but nevertheless, bees play a full supporting role.
第一个例子是，新西兰在19世纪，一个适合羊饲养的国家，但在1885年后，当四种大黄蜂出口并发布时，这一直没有达到其潜力。这些长舌蜜蜂能够深入朝向红色三叶草的花朵，从而产生三叶草种子。这提供了牲畜的自我延续的富含牧草，并实质上，巩固了该国的经济，今天仍然有助于贡献。
第二个例子是苜蓿（或卢塞恩），它在全球上生长为牛饲料。美国在苜蓿种子生产中拥有繁荣的行业，依赖于一只小孤独的蜜蜂，以百万元供应给种植者。蜜蜂往往不喜欢花，因为它是“春天装载”，当花是'绊倒'时，将它们敲到头上;因此，蜜蜂倾向于非常迅速地寻找替代牧草。较小的苜蓿叶片刀蜜蜂（）不同时影响。在一些合适的位置使用的另一只孤立蜜蜂是碱（Nomia Melanderi.).
概括
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