The worldwide decline in honeybee populations continues. While
scientists work to understand the causes and policymakers to
take protective measures, farmers are concerned about
pollination of their crops. Traditionally, fruit growers have
relied on honeybees for pollination. But as availability
declines due to bee health issues, fewer bee-keepers, and
increasing demand for honeybees from other crops such as oil
seed rape, farmers can be faced with a serious pollination
bottleneck. Bumblebees can provide a much-needed alternative for
pollination of fruit crops. Biobest has pioneered commercial
bumblebee pollination since 1987, helping farmers deliver high-
quality fruit and produce. For protected crops, bumblebees are
often the only workable alternative, but our trusted pollinators
are more than ready to also help with today’s challenges in
open-field pollination. Even when a bumblebee hive has many
times fewer workers than a honeybee hive, the pollination
efficacy of bumblebees is extremely high. Compared to