Honey bees are essential in the production of several fruit, vegetable, and legume seed crops grown in Pennsylvania. Lack of adequate pollination often results in low yields and small or misshapen fruits. Many growers underestimate their pollination needs. It is likely that yield and quality of some crops suffer every year from inadequate pollination. To date, no satisfactory commercial substitute for bee pollination has been found for any major insect-pollinated crop. Large numbers of bees must be present on the bloom to produce a commercial crop.
Pollination as a business offers expanding opportunities to make money from your bees. Beekeepers located where they can produce a crop of honey and also rent bees for crop pollination can build more security into their business, especially for those years when the honey crop fails.