Weedy flowers help bees more than planted strips do
Lachaise M, Collard B, Anstett MC
Pollinators
If you tend a berry patch or fruit orchard, leaving the 'weeds' between rows alone may do more for your bee visitors than buying a fancy wildflower seed mix.
Researchers watched bees and hoverflies in French blackcurrant orchards to see whether farmers should sow wildflower strips or just let spontaneous flowers grow between the crop rows. Turns out both matter, but for different insects: bees liked the natural volunteer flowers, hoverflies preferred the sown ones. Small bees also barely made it past the orchard edges, meaning far-off currant bushes got little visit from them at all.
Key Findings
Small and large wild bee abundance rose with the number of spontaneous (volunteer) flowers, while hoverfly abundance rose with sown flowers
Small bee numbers dropped sharply in the inner and central rows compared to the edges, with a smaller decline seen in large bees, suggesting limited movement into field interiors
Pollinator abundance on the blackcurrant bushes themselves tracked pollinator activity in the neighboring inter-rows rather than local flower abundance, across all four morphogroups studied
chevron_right Technical Summary
Wild flowers growing naturally between blackcurrant rows help bees, while deliberately sown flower strips especially benefit hoverflies, and small bees rarely venture far from field edges into the crop.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Pollinators in Blackcurrant Orchards: Complementary Roles of Sown and Spontaneous Flower Strips and Limited Spillover of Small Wild Bees Within Fields.
Agricultural intensification threatens pollinators and associated ecosystem services through pesticide use and the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats. Sowing flower strips and preserving sp...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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The blackcurrant, black currant or cassis is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, where it prefers damp fertile soils. It is widely cultivated both commercially and domestically.