Reuters writer Lianne Back reported today that, “A mechanical hum replaced the buzzing of the bees in one Israeli community this season as farmers, concerned over the global drop in bee populations, tried out a new method of pollinating their crops.
“Through an almond orchard in the area of Tel Arad in a desert plain in southern Israel, a tractor pulled a mast equipped with about a dozen small cannon that fired precise shots of pollen at the trees, enabling them to fertilize.
“The job is usually done by natural pollinators – most often bees – but there has been a drastic fall in bee numbers around the world, largely due to intensive agriculture, the use of pesticides and climate change.”
The Reuters article added that, “‘We see a crisis in 15 years where we don’t have enough insects in the world to actually do pollination and most of our vitamins and fruits are gone,’ said Eylam Ran, CEO of Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture.”
