How the Hemp, could help the bee population?

Hemp: The Environment-Friendly Cash Crop that Helps Bees

All over the country, farmers are looking to hemp as an alternative crop

In North Carolina, they have traded acres of tobacco for hemp. But there are still growing pains with the need for centralized drying, extraction, storage, and sales facilities. 

And about the bees?

Colorado State University discovered that industrial hemp could help the declining bee populations because it is an excellent source of pollen. Hemp generally flowers between July through September when there is a lack of pollen from other farm crops. And they are prolific pollen producers, making them attractive to a diverse abundance of bees.

Hemp could be one of the answers to increasing the bee population, as bee colonies have been declining in the United States due to pests, pesticide exposure, and poor nutrition because of lack of pollen.

For the study, the researchers collected almost 2,000 bees from 23 different bee types with half being classic honeybees. These bees represented 80% of all kinds of bees in that region. Click here to find out more.