Pollinating Pears

My honeybees are tiny so sometimes I see more details about how they work through close up photography.

Both honeybees and their cousins, wasps, pollinated my compact pear tree flowers spring 2010, the first time my pear tree produced fruit since it was planted in 1985. 

By brushing against favorite flowers like bluebells, honeybees pick up pollen in their leg pouches. As they move from flower to flower, honeybees move pollen that triggers fruit production. 

It's still amazing to me one third of all the food we eat is dependent on this little insect's travel schedule.

Charlotte