Honey Bees Contribute Over $14 Billion to the Value of U.S. Crop Production

Many of the Country's Crops Would Not Exist Without the Honey Bee at Bloom
Time

 LONGMONT, Colo., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- As honey bees gather pollen and
nectar for their survival, they pollinate crops such as apples, cranberries,
melons and broccoli. Some crops, including blueberries and cherries are 90
percent dependent on honey bee pollination; one crop, almonds, depends
entirely on the honey bee for pollination at bloom time. For many others,
crop yield and quality would be greatly reduced without honey bee
pollination. In fact, a 1999 Cornell University study documented that the
contribution made by managed honey bees hired by U.S. crop growers to
pollinate crops amounted to just over $14.6 billion.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000404/SFTU162 )

Cornell entomology professors, Drs. Roger Morse and Nicholas Calderone have
reported the results of their study in the March issue of Bee Culture
magazine. Morse and Calderone calculated the value of 51 individual fruit,
nut, vegetable and field crops that depend to some degree on pollination by
managed honey bees in the U.S. Using USDA crop production figures, grower
surveys and data from their 1989 study, they estimated the total annual value
of increased agricultural production attributable to honey bee pollination at
$14.6 billion. In comparison, the total value attributable to honey bee
pollination in 1989 was $9.3 billion (a 36.3 percent increase). Approximately
20 percent of that increase is due to inflation; the rest is because of
increased demand for pollinated foods from an increasing U.S. population.

Each year American farmers and growers continue to feed more people using
less land. They produce an abundance of food that is nutritious and safe.
Honey bees are very much a part of this modern agricultural success story.
It's estimated that there are over 2.9 million colonies in the U.S. today,
two-thirds of which travel the country each year pollinating crops and
producing honey and beeswax. Nearly one million colonies are used each year
in California just to pollinate the state's almond crop! The $14.6 billion
contribution made by managed honey bees comes in the form of increased yields
and superior quality crops for growers and American consumers -- a healthy
beekeeping industry is invaluable to a healthy U. S. agricultural economy.

The Cornell study was supported by the National Honey Board.

Bee Culture article:

http://bee.airoot.com/beeculture/pollination2000/pg1.html

Honey Color Image:

http://www.nhb.org/pressrm/images/photos/tn02.jpg

Visit www.nhb.org for honey information.

SOURCE  National Honey Board

CO:  National Honey Board

ST:  Colorado

IN:  AGR ENV PUB

SU:

04/04/2000 19:56 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com