April 20, 2006

‘Virginia Pollinator’ online resource helps farmers find bees

RICHMOND—Bees play an essential role in the pollination and subsequent development of a variety of field and orchard crops. However, over the past several years, mid-Atlantic beekeepers have experienced severe losses, reducing the number of bees available to do the job.

Without adequate pollination services, Virginia could experience a significant reduction in apple, peach, cucumber, melon, cantaloupe and pumpkin harvests.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has developed an online resource for Virginia fruit and vegetable growers who are having difficulty locating bee colonies to meet their crop pollination requirements.

‘Virginia Pollinator’ is a Web-based resource designed to connect beekeepers who have honey bees available for pollination rental with growers who need honey bees to pollinate their crops. The Pollinator site is at www.vdacs.virginia.gov/plant&pest/pollinator.html.

Beekeepers with bees to rent can register online, providing basic information including location, number of hives available, price, and delivery details. VDACS will post the information online. Farmers in need of bees to pollinate fields or orchards also can register online with details such as acreage, number of hives needed, requested date and delivery.

Experts estimate that insect-pollinated plants are the direct or indirect source of about one-third of the human diet. In the United States, honey bees pollinate more than $20 billion worth of crops annually. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 80 percent of insect crop pollination is accomplished by honey bees. Growers rent about 2.5 million colonies of bees each year.

For additional information, contact Keith Tignor at VDACS, 804-786-3515 or keith.tignor@vdacs.virginia.gov.

Contact: Marion Horsley, VDACS, at 804-225-3820.