Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther (the male part of a flower) to the stigma (the female part of a flower). Once this happens, fertilization can occur in the ovary of the flower. Seeds develop into a fruit which grows and ripens.
Each fruit has a distinct requirement for fertilization to occur, but whatever the process, the honeybee is instrumental in ensuring that pollination occurs. As a worker bee travels from flower to flower and from tree to tree, it collects grains of pollen on its body hair. Some of this pollen is rubbed off and transferred to the stigmas of other flowers. Pollen is collected and transferred as the bee travels around, visiting as many as 5,000 flowers in a day. While a wild honeybee may be able to pollinate a backyard fruit tree, for commercial orchard success, farmers place beehives in the orchard when the fruit trees are in bloom.
Reports from beekeepers since the 1990s have shown that the decline in honeybees has been a serious problem in the United States and in Europe. Since 2010, there have been reports of lower numbers of bee colonies in China, Japan and Egypt as well.
The decrease in bee populations is now a worldwide problem marked by a sudden loss of the worker bee population and has been termed the Colony Collapse Disorder. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a complex interaction of several different factors is causing the honeybee deaths including an invasive migrating parasite called Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that feeds on bee fluids; new diseases, such as Israeli Acute Paralysis virus and gut parasite Nosema; pesticide poisoning; bee management stress; foraging habitat modification; decreased plant diversity, causing poor nutrition for bees; and potential immune-suppressing stress on bees.
According to the UN report, some measures might improve the honeybee population such as better management of and more research on mite control, reducing the amount of pesticide use, and allowing farmland to lay fallow for several years, creating a better breeding ground for honeybees.