pollination broker

We have long since stopped taking bees for granted, especially now that their numbers have declined markedly as a result of disease and toxins.  In agriculture the role of the bees in fertilising the flowers is so important and the logistics of hiring hives at the critical moment is so complicated that a job has emerged for a person who can work with the beekeepers at one end of the chain and the farmers at the other to ensure the delivery of hives. This is the pollination broker.

 Bees are in demand for orchards, particularly almond orchards which are almost completely reliant on them, and for crops like blueberries, carrots, melons, and many others. Typically the farmer has two to four weeks in which to pollinate the crop in either spring or early summer. So it is a big gig for the bees. Since they naturally return to the hive at night, it is by night that they journey to their new workplace. Any delay and the farmer has no crop. Thus the need for the pollination broker to manage the schedule for the busy bees.