Attracting Wild Bees to Farms is a Good Insurance Policy

Investing in habitat that attracts and supports wild bees in farms is not only an effective approach to helping enhance crop pollination, but it can also pay for itself in four years or less, according to Michigan State University research. The paper, published in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology, gives farmers of pollination-dependent crops tangible results to convert marginal acreage to fields of wildflowers. Rufus Isaacs, MSU entomologist and co-author of the paper, emphasized the economic advantages of this approach, noting that it can help farmers increase yields and profitability.