Blue Sky Bee Supply Blog

A bee gathering pollen and nectar from a helianthus flower.TUCSON, ARIZONA, March 20, 2019—Honey bee colonies foraging on land with a strong cover of clover species and alfalfa do more than three times as well than if they are put next to crop fields of sunflowers or canola, according to a study just published in Scientific Reports by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist and his colleagues.Managed honey bee colonies placed from May until October next to land in the U.S. Department of …

Prairie Strips Are Composed of Native Perennial Plants and Located Across Hillslopes.Credit: Lynn BettsModern agriculture’s large monoculture fields grow a lot of corn and soybeans, planted annually. The outputs from row crops can be measured both in dollars paid in the market and also in non-market costs, known as externalities. Soil, nutrients, groundwater, pollinators, wildlife diversity, and habitat (among other things) can be lost when crop yields are maximized.Now it appears that prairie s …