Although pollinators are vital to more than 80 of the world’s important food crops, farmland can often be a challenging landscape for pollinators to flourish in. Our Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR)-sponsored study will allow us to understand how agriculture impacts bee nutrition, pesticide exposure, disease and beneficial microbes.
We will be contrasting the pollinator exposure to stressors in certified Bee Better almond orchards across California that implement the best management practices for promoting pollinator health with conventionally managed farms. This research will help us understand how to design farms so that they are refuges for pollinators.
– Quinn McFrederick, Lauren Ponisio and Hollis Woodard, University of California, Riverside