Did you know agriculture’s most efficient workers have wings?

Several countries celebrated International Worker’s Day on May 1^st to recognise labour forces of all kinds. In this context, it's worth mentioning one of nature's most efficient workers: bumblebees. When you purchase tomatoes, sweet peppers, or strawberries produced in greenhouses, you are likely holding the result of a remarkable collaboration between farmers and bumblebees. A tireless and reliable pollinator in horticulture helping farmers secure optimal and consistent harvests.

A single bumblebee colony [1] can pollinate up to 10 million tomato flowers in a single week, with a great accuracy rate [2]. Thanks to their unique ability to perform buzz pollination [3], and longer-day working hours, bumblebees are essential to deliver higher yields, better fruit quality, and more uniform harvests. Without this workforce, growers would need to resort to a labour-intensive hand-pollination.

Science‑based production systems have made it possible to supply European farmers with healthy, disease‑controlled bumblebees colonies year‑round, helping ensure consistency, reliability and resilience in food production. Marking the International Worker’s Day, we celebrate this tiny but mighty workforce to support these nature‑based solutions.

[1] working a 30-acre greenhouse
[2] Powerhouse Pollinators: Bumble Bees & Greenhouse Pollination | Nature Fresh Farms
[3] vibrating flowers to release pollen