Pollination is vital to the approximately 250,000 species of flowering plants that depend on the transfer of pollen from flower anther to stigma to reproduce. The anther is the top-most part of the stamen, the flower’s male reproductive portion. Normally made up of four pollen sacs, the anther produces and releases pollen. The stigma, the top of the flower’s female reproductive part, is covered in a sticky substance that catches and traps the pollen grains.
Depending on the specific plant species, the transfer of pollen from anther to stigma is achieved by wind, gravity, water, birds, bats, or insects. Some plants, such as pine trees and corn, produce light pollen that’s easily blown by wind. Other plants make heavy, sticky pollen that’s not easily blown from flower to flower. These plants rely on other agents, insects for example, to transfer the pollen.
Upon entering a flower, an insect such as a honey bee, brushes against the pollen on the outside of the anther and carries it to the stigma. Sometimes, the pollen grains only need to reach the stigma of the same flower or another flower on the same plant. But often, the pollen must travel to the stigma of a flower on a different plant (but same plant species).
Pollen, often called “bee bread,” is the bees’ main source of protein. Pollen also provides the bees with fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins. The protein in pollen is necessary for hive growth and young bee development.
Depending on the season, weather, and availability of nectar- and pollen-bearing blossoms, the size of a honey bee colony varies from 10,000 to 100,000 bees. A typical size colony, made up of about 20,000 bees, collects about 125 pounds of pollen per year.1 Bees carry the pollen in specialized structures on their hind legs called “pollen baskets,” or corbiculae (meaning “little baskets” in Latin). A honey bee can bring back to the colony a pollen load that weighs about 35 percent of its body weight.
In a single day, one worker bee makes 12 or more trips from the hive, visiting several thousand flowers. On these foraging trips, the bee can travel as far as two to five miles from the hive. Although honey bees collect pollen from a variety of flowers, a bee limits itself to one plant species per trip, gathering one kind of pollen.
Neonicotinoids which are found in pesticides (plant seeds are soaked in this chemical and stay in the plant as it grows) harm honeybees by attacking their nervous system, which can be another explanation for the disappearance of the Honeybee colonies.
New research has discovered that male honey bees exposed to neonicotinoids have almost 40% less live sperm than the other honeybees who haven't been exposed.
The following is a list foods and the percentage that it relies on bee pollination:
Almonds - 100%
Apples - 90%
Asparagus - 90%
Avocado - 90%
Broccoli - 90%
Blueberry - 90%
Onion - 90%
Cherry - 80%
Cucumber - 80%
Celery - 80%
Plum/Prune - 65%
Watermelon - 65%
Tangerine - 45%
Lemon - 20%
Cotton - 20%
Peanut - 2 %
Grape - 1%
A Whole Foods Market in Rhode Island, as a part of a campaign to highlight the importance of honeybees, temporarily removed from its produce section all the food that depends on pollinators. Of 453 items, 237 vanished, including apples, lemons, zucchini and other squashes.
The following is a list of crop plants that are pollinated by honey bees:
Okra: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Kiwifruit: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Onion: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Blow flies
Cashew: Honey bees, Stingless bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Butterflies, Flies, hummingbirds
Celery: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Flies
Strawberry tree: Honey bees, Bumblebees
Carambola, Starfruit: Honey bees, Stingless bees
Beet: Hover Flies, Honey bees, Solitary bees seed
Mustard: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Rapeseed: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Broccoli: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Cauliflower: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Cabbage: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Brussels sprouts: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Chinese cabbage: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Turnip, Canola: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Flies
Pigeon pea, Cajan pea, Congo bean: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Carpenter bees
Chilli pepper, Red pepper, Bell pepper, Green pepper: Honeybees, Stingless bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Hover flies
Papaya : Honey bees, thrips, large sphinx moths, Moths, Butterflies
Safflower: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Caraway: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Flies
Chestnut: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Watermelon: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Tangerine: Honey bees, Bumblebees
Orange, Grapefruit, Tangelo: Honey bees, Bumblebees
Coconut: Honey bees, Stingless bees
Coffea spp. Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora: Honey bees, Stingless bees, Solitary bees
Coriander: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Crownvetch: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Azarole: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Cantaloupe, Melon: Honey bees, Squash bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Cucumber: Honey bees, Squash bees, Bumblebees, Leafcutter bee, Solitary bees
Squash (plant), Pumpkin, Gourd, Marrow, Zucchini: Honey bees, Squash bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Guar bean, Goa bean: Honey bees
Lemon: Honey bees
Lime: Honey bees
Carrot: Flies, Solitary bees, Honey bees
Hyacinth bean: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Longan: Honey bees, Stingless bees
Persimmon: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Cardamom: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Loquat: Honey bees, Bumblebees
Buckwheat: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Feijoa: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Fennel: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Flies
Strawberry: Honey bees, Stingless bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees (Halictus spp.), Hover flies
Sunflower: Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Honey bees
Flax: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Lychee : Honey bees, Flies
Lupine: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Macadamia: Honey bees, Stingless bees, Solitary bees, Wasps, Butterflies
Acerola: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Apple: Honey bees, orchard mason bee, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Hover flies
Mango: Honey bees, Stingless bees, Flies, Ants, Wasps
Alfalfa: Alfalfa leafcutter bee, Alkali bee, Honey bees
Rambutan: Honey bees, Stingless bees, Flies
Sainfoin: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Avocado:Stingless bees, Solitary bees, Honey bees
Lima bean, Kidney bean, Haricot bean, Adzuki bean, Mungo bean, String bean, Green bean: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Scarlet runner bean: Bumblebees, Honey bees, Solitary bees, Thrips
Allspice: Honey bees, Solitary bees
Apricot: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Flies
Sweet Cherry: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Flies
Sour cherry: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Flies
Plum: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Flies
Almond: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Flies
Peach, Nectarine: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Flies
Guava: Honey bees, Stingless bees, Bumblebees, Solitary
Pomegranate: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Beetles
Pear: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Hover flies
Black currant, Red currant: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Rose hips, Dogroses: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Carpenter bees, Solitary bees, Hover flies
Boysenberry: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Raspberry: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Hover flies
Blackberry: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees, Hover flies
Elderberry: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Flies, Longhorn beetles
Sesame: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Wasps, Flies
Rowanberry: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Bumblebees, Hover flies
Hog plum: Honey bees, Stingless bees
Tamarind: Honey bees
Clover (not all species): Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
White clover: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Alsike clover: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Crimson clover: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Red clover: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Arrowleaf clover: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Cranberry: Bumblebees (Bombus affinis), Solitary, Honey bees
Broad bean: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Cowpea, Black-eyed pea, Blackeye bean: Honey bees, Bumblebees, Solitary bees
Grape: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Flies
Jujube: Honey bees, Solitary bees, Flies, Beetles, Wasps
Resources:
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-crops-plants-are-pollinated-by-honey-bees.html