🐝 Bees
Bees feed on flowers between the rows; the vine itself hardly needs them.
Bees are helpful insects that feed on the nectar and pollen of flowers. In a vineyard they live in the alleys between the rows, where flowers and grasses grow, and in meadows and hedges around. The vine itself hardly needs bees: grape flowers are hermaphrodite and pollinate themselves, helped by the wind.
So why bees in a vineyard? They support the variety of life. Many growers sow cover crops between the rows, such as clover, mustard and phacelia, whose flowers feed bees. Bees pollinate other plants around, and birds and insects that depend on them stay in the area. Such an environment helps natural protection against pests.
Chemical products harm bees. So on farms that care for biodiversity, spraying is lighter and more careful, and hives are placed near the vineyard. Sometimes growers sell honey.
Bees are part of the nature of a vineyard. Their presence suggests the vineyard is relatively healthy. They are a reminder that wine does not grow by itself but in a living environment. Alcohol is for adults.
Honey & beekeeping
Bees here means the Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, the species behind honey and propolis. In EU law, honey is made only by these bees: they collect nectar or honeydew, transform it with substances of their own, dehydrate it and leave it to ripen in the honeycomb. Only Apis mellifera is known to collect propolis too, a mixture of wax and plant resins. For what the bees produce, read Honey, Propolis and Monofloral honey, which show how the source of the nectar shapes colour, taste and crystallisation.
How it connects to Wine
🐝 Bees → kind of → 🐝 Biodiversity in vineyards → kind of → 🌿 Viticulture → kind of → 🍷 Wine
How it connects to Honey & beekeeping
Links
- What it gives
- 🍯 Honey, Propolis, Beeswax, Bee pollen, Royal jelly
- Previous step
- 🐝 Cover crops
- Part of
- 🐝 Biodiversity in vineyards
- Similar and different
- Western honey bee
- In other topics
- Apiary and beekeeping, Honey plants, Monofloral honey, Polyfloral honey
Frequently asked questions
Do grapevines need bees for pollination?
Hardly. Grape flowers are hermaphrodite and pollinate themselves, helped by the wind.
Why are bees useful in a vineyard?
They support biodiversity and feed on flowers between the rows.
What harms bees in a vineyard?
Strong chemical products, so careful farms spray less.
What to read next
- Royal jelly — Royal jelly is the secretion of young nurse bees' glands used to feed young larvae and the queen; it is harvested only from queen cells.
- Honey plants — Plants from which bees collect nectar and pollen: black locust, lime, buckwheat, sunflower, rapeseed, chestnut, heather, lavender.
- Western honey bee — The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the bee species kept in frame hives across most of the world for honey, beeswax and pollination.
- Bee pollen — Bee pollen is flower pollen that bees pack with nectar or honey into pellets and carry to the hive on their hind legs.
- Beeswax — Beeswax is the natural wax that young honey bees secrete and use to build their combs.