Excerpt:
The changes in agricultural practices in the past few decades have had a serious and unforeseen effect on the natural pollination of many crops. Twenty-four fruit and 36 seed crops, including the all-important legumes, have been listed as being dependent upon insect pollination. Years ago native wild pollination insects were adequate. Now, with more intensive cultivation largely destroying these ground-living insects, with the tremendous expansion in insecticide use and with the decreasing use of weed killers pollination of many crops is increasingly dependent upon the honey bee.
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