A Bee's Business: Trust Me, Honey

Nick Versteeg mentions in his documentary, Food Security: It’s In Your Hands, that one out of three mouthfuls of food we eat in each meal is somehow a product of bee ‘processing’. I knew bees provided essential ecosystem services within our environment; however, I was not aware they contributed so much to the natural processing and production of our food. Under threat from pesticide use, pests and more broadly, climate change, the survival of the bee is critical if we want to keep eating nutrient rich foods. If we let bees fall to the wayside, serious reductions in crops and agriculture throughout the world will be seen.

In order to bring bees back into the meal, and to acknowledge the work that they do, I thought I would examine one meal, and see if the fact holds true: do bees really contribute one out of three mouthfuls of food in every meal? The bolded ingredients within the list signify that we can partially thank our buzzing friends for their part in making this ingredient possible. A few friends and I made a homemade pizza; here is the breakdown of ingredients:

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Crust:

Sugar (Made from Sugar Beets)

Water

Active Dry Yeast

Olive Oil

Salt

Whole Wheat Flour

Buckwheat Flour

Toppings:

Tomato Sauce

Mushrooms

Broccoli

Carrots

Red Peppers

Cheese

I calculated that bees had a hand in producing six out of the thirteen ingredients—almost half of the total pizza ingredients—we put together to make this (delicious) meal. Although, a bees work is most prominently seen in the fresh produce we used, it is also seen in things like sugar, or flour that most of us consume daily. If you’re interested in figuring out how much bees contributed to your meal, take a look at this chart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees.

If you have your own garden, or if you are interested in beekeeping, Versteeg mentions in his documentary that starting your own colony of orchard mason bees is easy, and a huge asset to any growing gardener’s yard. Versteeg’s documentary, Food Security: It’s in Your Hands, explains the process clearly, and becomes just another good reason to check the film out!