Did you know pollination is seasonal? The crop, the beekeeper and the bee colony all have their own yearly rhythm, and in spring those rhythms often meet.
In winter, many crops and orchards are resting. Deciduous fruit trees have lost their leaves, paddocks are quieter and bee colonies are smaller. Honey bees spend much of the colder weather inside the hive, living on stored food and keeping the colony warm.
As the days lengthen in spring, plants begin to flower and bee colonies become more active. The queen lays more eggs, more young bees are raised and the hive needs increasing amounts of nectar and pollen. This is also when farmers and growers begin to watch flowering closely. If a crop needs insect pollination, beekeepers may bring hives in just before or during flowering.
Spring is the critical meeting point. Clover, seed crops, fruit trees and other flowering plants need pollen moved between flowers. At the same time, thousands of worker bees are out searching for food. As they move from flower to flower, pollination happens along the way.
By summer, many crops have finished flowering and are developing seed or fruit. Bee colonies are usually at their busiest, with large numbers of workers foraging across the wider landscape. Once one crop has finished flowering, bees need other sources of nectar and pollen, which is why flowering shelter belts, field margins, gardens and other crops can be so important.
In autumn, crops are harvested and many plants begin to slow down. Bee colonies also start preparing for winter. Numbers fall, food is stored and the hive needs enough resources to get through the colder months.
Then the cycle begins again.
For farmers and beekeepers, timing matters because the flowers may only be available for a short period. For the bees, those flowers are simply food. For the crop, they are the chance to reproduce.
That is why a flowering paddock and a row of beehives can be such an important moment in the farming year.
In New Zealand, the seasons are:
Summer: December, January, February
Autumn: March, April, May
Winter: June, July, August
Spring: September, October, November