Artist Statement:
I live in apple country. On a warm spring day, I delight in the soft hum of honeybees busily pollinating apple blossoms throughout the orchard knowing that I will enjoy the fruits of their labour in the fall. A honeybee will visit 50 – 100 flowers during a collection trip, and potentially 1,000 in a day. While collecting nectar for energy and pollen for the hive, a bee helps plants reproduce by moving pollen between the male and female parts of a flower to enable the production of seeds. Honeybees were introduced to North America in the 1600s. Honeybees along with approximately 3600 native bee species in North America pollinate 80% of all flowering plants.