Worker flies all the buzz in Japan agricultural pollination amid honeybee shortage
May 2, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
A Bee Fly, or a common green bottle fly, is seen on mango flowers in Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, in March 2021. (Mainichi) KAGOSHIMA An increasing number of agricultural farms in Japan are using flies instead of honeybees to pollinate vegetables and fruits, because the supply of bees is in decline and flies have proven to be good pollinators despite their negative image. In mid-March, shiny metallic green flies were seen buzzing around pink flowers in a plastic greenhouse in the southwest Japan city of Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. Takao Arimura, a 76-year-old mango producer said that he expected them to become the saviors of the farm. He has been conducting an experimental cultivation of mangoes using flies for pollination for two years.