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Blueberries ripen in the field at Lewis Nursery and Farms in Rocky Point.
Beehives are placed around the field to pollinate the blueberry bushes at
Ivanhoe Blueberry Farm.
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he says. “All around those bees are going to be corn
fields, and soybean fields, cotton fields and sweet
potato fields. And people are going to take care of
their stuff and spraying or doing who knows what.”
It is possible that bumblebees will be part of the
answer.
“It’s not uncommon for people to use both bum-ble
and honeybees,” Cannady says. “The bumble
is bigger and heavier; the thinking is it can fly and
work when it is colder and more windy. We are
starting to see people use bumblebees exclusively.”
The same bees that pollinate North Carolina
blueberries in March might have been trucked
to California to pollinate the almond groves in
February. Cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, and
squash are also pollinated by rental bees in their
flowering seasons.
“California requires 2.5 million colonies of bees
for one pollination for a month of almonds,” Stiles
says. “They bring bees in from all over the county
to meet that demand. I would guess that North
Carolina for blueberry production requires about
10,000 colonies.”