Hemp could help sustain vitally important bee populations

Recent studies suggest that newly-legalized hemp may help a critically important species – bees.

Scientists have been warning about the consequences of dwindling bee populations for years as these pollinators are responsible for about 70% of all food crops.

And humans aren’t the only species that depends on the pollination provided by bees – a host of other animals depend on the plants pollinated by these creatures.

Colony collapse disorder (CCD), which affects beehives around the world, results in significant economic losses and is a serious threat to the ecosystem.

According to the study, hemp supports 16 different varieties of bees and could play an important role in helping these insects amid the dramatic decline in population across the globe.

“Because of its temporally unique flowering phenology, hemp has the potential to provide a critical nutritional resource to a diverse community of bees during a period of floral scarcity and thereby may help to sustain agroecosystem-wide pollination services for other crops in the landscape,” the researchers wrote in the paper published in Environmental Entomology.

The study also found a direct correlation between the height of the plant and attractiveness to bees, with scientists reporting that taller hemp attracts 17 times more bees than the shorter ones.

Read the full article at GREENCAMP