Almonds were first planted there in 1853, 
[California] according to a 1922
pamphlet on "Almond Pollination," by Tufts
and Philp. They state that by 1885, failures
were pointing to the necessity of cross pollination
between different varieties to produce
decent crops of almonds. And, this cross pollination
could only be effected by bees. They
suggest growers obtain bees, even if they
"may not care to go into the honey business,"
and point out that profitable quantities of
honey could be made from alfalfa later in the
season. They suggest scattering hives at the
rate of one per acre. Further, they emphasize
that for almonds, the honey bee is the most
reliable pollinator.

Short History of Pollination
PL Borst
ABJ April 2011

See 
Almond Pollination
Authors	Warren Porter Tufts, Guy Lockhart Philip
Publisher	University of California press, 1923
Original from	the University of California

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