January 20, 2021 Outreach
According to a new University of Maine study, a natural way to support Maineâs wild blueberry industry is to cultivate plants popular with bees such as butterfly weed, starflower, summer sweet, sweet clover and swamp rose.
Recent declines in wild native bee populations have garnered global attention, particularly in Maine where blueberry growers depend on bees to pollinate their crops. While bumblebees (
Bombus spp.) are recognized as the most effective pollinators of wild blueberries, Maine growers are increasingly relying on
Apis mellifera, a non-native bee, to pollinate their fields. Establishing bee reservoirs to provide forage when the blueberries are not in bloom is one strategy that could benefit Maineâs native bumblebees while sustaining an economically important agricultural industry.