Bees buzzing in soybean fields

Bees provide critical pollination services to agricultural systems; however, these areas can be harsh to pollinators. As such, augmented pollinator habitat is commonly added as a conservation tool. Even though soybean is considered a pollinator-independent crop by many, previous research contradicts this thinking. A paper authored by Hannah K. Levenson, April E. Sharp, and David R. Tarpy is the first to show the addition of pollinator habitat results in increased soybean yield, as measured by seed weight. This paper also documents that bees in soybean fields, as shown in the image, actively collect resources from the crop. These findings suggest that the management of pollinator independent crops should be reevaluated as these crops can be attractive to and benefit from pollinators. This image shows a Bombus
impatiens (common eastern bumble bee) queen visiting a soybean flower and was taken while the authors were conducting visual surveys of pollinators in soybean fields.

Bombus impatiens (common eastern bumble bee) queen visiting a soybean flower, documented while the authors were conducting visual surveys of pollinators in soybean fields (below) © Hannah K. Levenson. All rights reserved.

About

Hannah K. Levenson is a community ecologist who is broadly interested in investigating the impacts that humans have the environment and how best to mitigate them. The main tool she uses to address these concerns is bees in agricultural systems. She is currently a postdoctoral research scholar at North Carolina State University.

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