Bees and Our Food Supply
According to the USDA, bees pollinate about 80% of flowering plants and about 75% of the nuts, fruits, and vegetables Americans eat. At least one in three bites of food depends on bees and many common crops would not exist without bees: melons, almonds, zucchini and many others. In addition, many livestock feed plants (i.e. alfalfa) need bee pollination.
Honey bee pollination is worth $20 billion annually to U.S. crop production and worldwide $217 billion.
Crops that need bees
apples, cabbage, cranberries, blueberries, beets, cherries, chestnuts, broccoli, melons, almonds, plums, peaches, papaya, nectarines, green beans, avocados, apricots, allspice, strawberries, onions, cashews, cilantro, vanilla, cucumbers, lemons, fennel, sunflowers, carrots, alfafa, guavas, pomegranates, black currents, raspberries, tomatoes, elderberries, rose hips, mangos, limes, quince, coffee, chillis, peppers, grapes … and more!
crops that don’t need bees
plantains, cassava, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, soybeans, rice, wheat, sorghum and maize
If you like almonds, apples, blueberries, and watermelons, you should worry about bee decline.
— Dr. Insu Koh, University of Vermont Gund Institute for Ecological Economics