Bees and Wasps

Bees, along with a handful of other insect pollinators, play a critical role in Maryland agriculture, ensuring fruit set in dozens of fruit and vegetable crops. Honeybee pollination is credited with facilitating the production of over $26 million dollars of agricultural produce annually across the state – and that is only part of the story. In nearly all crops, wild bees are either the primary pollinator or significantly supplement the pollination activity of honeybees. In fact, one study examining pollination and yield across several cropping systems found that wild bee visitation enhanced fruit set by twice as much as an equivalent increase in honeybee visitation. 

Over the last month I have received reports from high tunnel (HT) growers that were seeing flower abscission due to poor pollination in their tomatoes (fig. 1). Some of these reports were a few weeks ago and others were just this past week. There are unfortunately several factors that can cause poor pollination in tomatoes.

State Pollinator Protection Plans

July 2022 Edition of Commercial Poultry News: 1. Pollinator/Vegetative Buffers Demo Day Was a Success!, 2. Potential Class Action Lawsuit Filed Arguing Broiler Growers Are Employees of Company, 4. Biden Administration Announces Proposed Changes to the Poultry Tournament System, 6. Celebrating Outstanding Growers on Delmarva at the DCA BBQ, 8. Poultry Housing Tips: Uneven Bird Distribution Can Prove Costly, 10. Coming Events! New MDA Animal Diagnostic & Educational Tour