List of crop plants pollinated by bees

This is a list of crop plants pollinated by bees along with how much crop yield is improved by bee pollination.

. Where the same plants have non-bee pollinators such as birds or other insects like flies, these are also indicated.

pollinate many plant species that are not native to their natural habitat but are often inefficient pollinators of such plants; if they are visiting ten different species of flower, only a tenth of the pollen they carry may be the right species. Other bees tend to favor one species at a time, therefore do most of the actual pollination.

Most staple food grains, like

will produce a useful food crop without pollination, though pollination may be required for the purpose of seed production or breeding.

Common name	Scientific name	Pollinator	Commercial product of pollination	Pollinator impact	Number of honey bee hives per acre	Geography of cultivation
Okra	Abelmoschus esculentus	solitary bees (Halictus spp.)	fruit	2-modest		temperate
Kiwifruit	Actinidia deliciosa	solitary bees	fruit	4-essential
Potato	Solanum tuberosum	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate, tropical
Onion	Allium cepa	solitary bees, blow flies	seed	1-little		temperate, tropical
Cashew	Anacardium occidentale	hummingbirds	nut	3-great		tropical
Celery	Apium graveolens	solitary bees, flies	seed			temperate
Strawberry tree	Arbutus unedo	bumblebees	fruit	2-modest
Carambola, starfruit	Averrhoa carambola	stingless bees	fruit	3-great		tropical
Brazil nut	Bertholletia excelsa	carpenter bees	nut	4-essential		equatorial
Beet	Beta vulgaris	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate
Mustard	Brassica alba, Brassica hirta, Brassica nigra	solitary bees (Osmia cornifrons, Osmia lignaria )	seed	2-modest		temperate
Rapeseed	Brassica napus	solitary bees	seed	2-modest		temperate
Broccoli	Brassica oleracea cultivar	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate
Cauliflower	Brassica oleracea Botrytis Group	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate
Cabbage	Brassica oleracea Capitata Group	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate
Brussels sprouts	Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate
Chinese cabbage	Brassica rapa	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate
canola	Brassica rapa	solitary bees (Andrena ilerda, Osmia cornifrons, Osmia lignaria, Halictus spp.), flies	seed	3-great	1	temperate
Pigeon pea, Cajan pea, Congo bean	Cajanus cajan	carpenter bees	seed	1-little
Jack bean, horse bean, sword bean	Canavalia spp.	carpenter bees (Xylocopa confusa )	seed	2-modest
Chili pepper, red pepper, bell pepper, green pepper	Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescens	hover flies	fruit	1-little (pollinators important in green houses to increase fruit weight, but less in open fields)
Papaya	Carica papaya	moths, butterflies	fruit	1-little
Safflower	Carthamus tinctorius	solitary bees	seed	1-little
Caraway	Carum carvi	solitary bees, flies	seed	2-modest	1	temperate
Chestnut	Castanea sativa	solitary bees	nut	2-modest		sub-tropical, Mediterranean or temperate
Watermelon	Citrullus lanatus	solitary bees	fruit	4-essential	1-3	temperate
Tangerine	Citrus tangerina	bumblebees	fruit	1-little		sub-tropical
Orange, grapefruit, tangelo	Citrus spp.	bumblebees	fruit	1-little		sub-tropical
Coconut	Cocos nucifera	stingless bees	nut	2-modest		tropical
Coffee	Coffea spp.	solitary bees	fruit	2-modest		tropical
Coriander	Coriandrum sativum	solitary bees	seed	3-great
Crownvetch	Coronilla varia L.	solitary bees	seed (increased yield from pollinators)			temperate
Azarole	Crataegus azarolus	solitary bees	fruit	1-little
Cantaloupe, melon	Cucumis melo L.	solitary bees (Ceratina spp.)	fruit	4-essential	2-4	temperate
Cucumber	Cucumis sativus	gynoecious green house varieties pollination is detrimental to fruit quality)	fruit	3-great	1-2	temperate
Squash, pumpkin, gourd, marrow, zucchini	Cucurbita spp.	solitary bees	fruit	4-essential	1	temperate
Guar bean , Goa bean	Cyamopsis tetragonoloba	Honey bees	seed	1-little
Quince	Cydonia oblonga Mill.	Honey bees	fruit			temperate
Lemon	Citrus limon	Honey bees (also will often self-pollinate)	fruit			temperate
Lime	Citrus limetta	Honey bees (also will often self-pollinate)	fruit			temperate
Carrot	Daucus carota	honey bees	seed			temperate
Hyacinth bean	Dolichos spp.	solitary bees	seed	2-modest
Longan	Dimocarpus longan	stingless bees		1-little
Persimmon	Diospyros kaki, Diospyros virginiana	solitary bees	fruit	1-little
Cardamom	Elettaria cardamomum	solitary bees		3-great
Loquat	Eriobotrya japonica	bumblebees	fruit	3-great
Buckwheat	Fagopyrum esculentum	solitary bees	seed	3-great	1	temperate
Feijoa	Feijoa sellowiana	solitary bees	fruit	3-great		tropical
Fennel	Foeniculum vulgare	solitary bees, flies	seed	3-great		temperate
Strawberry	Fragaria spp.	hover flies	fruit	2-modest	1	temperate
Cotton	Gossypium spp.	solitary bees	seed, fiber	2-modest
Sunflower	Helianthus annuus	honey bees	seed	2-modest	1	temperate
Flax	Linum usitatissimum	solitary bees	seed	1-little		temperate
Lychee	Litchi chinensis	Honey bees, flies	fruit	1-little
Lupine	Lupinus angustifolius	solitary bees	seed			temperate
Macadamia	Macadamia ternifolia	wasps, butterflies	nut	4-essential		tropical
Acerola	Malpighia glabra	solitary bees	fruit (minor commercial value)
Apple	Malus domestica or Malus sylvestris	hover flies (Eristalis cerealis, Eristalis tenax )	fruit	3-great	1, 2 semi dwarf, 3 dwarf	temperate
Mammee apple	Mammea americana	Bees	fruit	2-modest		tropical
Mango	Mangifera indica	fruit bats, wind[2]	fruit	3-great		sub-tropical
Alfalfa	Medicago sativa	honey bees	seed		1	temperate
Rambutan	Nephelium lappaceum	stingless bees, flies	fruit	1-little		tropical
prickly pear	Opuntia spp.	solitary bees	fruit	2-modest
Sainfoin	Onobrychis spp.	solitary bees	seed			temperate
Passion fruit	Passiflora edulis	hummingbirds	fruit	4-essential		tropical
Avocado	Persea americana	honey bees	fruit	3-great
string bean, green bean	Phaseolus spp.	solitary bees	fruit, seed	1-little
Scarlet runner bean	Phaseolus coccineus L.	solitary bees, thrips	seed
Allspice	Pimenta dioica	solitary bees (Halictus spp., Exomalopsis spp., Ceratina spp.)	fruit	3-great
Apricot	Prunus armeniaca	solitary bees, flies	fruit	3-great	1	temperate
Sweet cherry	Prunus avium spp.	solitary bees, flies	fruit	3-great		temperate
Sour cherry	Prunus cerasus	solitary bees, flies	fruit	3-great		temperate
sloe	Prunus domestica, Prunus spinosa	solitary bees, flies	fruit	3-great	1	temperate
Almond	Prunus dulcis, Prunus amygdalus, or Amygdalus communis	solitary bees (Osmia cornuta), flies	nut	3-great	2-3	temperate
nectarine	Prunus persica	solitary bees, flies	fruit	3-great	1	temperate
Guava	Psidium guajava	solitary bees (Lasioglossum spp.)	fruit	2-modest		tropical
Pomegranate	Punica granatum	beetles	fruit	2-modest
Pear	Pyrus communis	hover flies (Eristalis spp.)	fruit	3-great	1	temperate
red currant	Ribes nigrum, Ribes rubrum	solitary bees	fruit	2-modest		temperate
Rose hips , dogroses	Rosa spp.	hover flies		3-great		temperate
Boysenberry	Rubus spp.	solitary bees	fruit			temperate
Raspberry	Rubus idaeus	hover flies (Eristalis spp.)	fruit	3-great	1	temperate
Blackberry	Rubus fruticosus	hover flies (Eristalis spp.)	fruit	3-great		temperate
Elderberry	Sambucus nigra	solitary bees, flies, longhorn beetles	fruit	2-modest		temperate
Sesame	Sesamum indicum	wasps, flies	seed	2-modest
Eggplant	Solanum melongena	solitary bees	fruit	2-modest (pollinators important in green houses, but less in open fields)		temperate
Naranjilla	Solanum quitoense	solitary bees	fruit	3-great		tropical
Rowanberry	Sorbus aucuparia	hover flies	fruit	4-essential		temperate
Service tree	Sorbus domestica	Bees, flies	fruit	2-modest
Hog plum	Spondias spp.	stingless bees (Melipona spp.)	fruit	1-little
Tamarind	Tamarindus indica	Honey bees (incl. Apis dorsata )	fruit	1-little
Clover (not all species)	Trifolium spp.	solitary bees	seed		1	temperate
White clover	Trifolium alba	solitary bees	seed		1	temperate
Alsike clover	Trifolium hybridum L.	solitary bees	seed		1	temperate
Crimson clover	Trifolium incarnatum	solitary bees	seed		1
Red clover	Trifolium pratense	solitary bees	seed		1	temperate
Arrowleaf clover	Trifolium vesiculosum	solitary bees	seed		1	temperate
Blueberry	Vaccinium spp.	honey bees	fruit	3-great	3-4	temperate
Cranberry	Vaccinium oxycoccus, Vaccinium macrocarpon	honey bees	fruit		3	temperate
Broad bean	Vicia faba	solitary bees	seed	2-modest
Vetch	Vicia spp.	solitary bees	seed			temperate
Cowpea, black-eyed pea, blackeye bean	Vigna unguiculata	solitary bees	seed	1-little
Karite, shea	Vitellaria paradoxa	Honey bees	nut	2-modest		temperate
Tomato	Solanum lycopersicum	solitary bees (Halictus spp.)	fruit	2-modest (important for commercial crop yield)		temperate, tropical
Grape	Vitis spp.	solitary bees, flies	fruit	1-little		temperate
Jujube	Ziziphus jujuba	wasps	fruit	2-modest

See also

• Fruit tree pollination
• Pollination management
• Pollinator
• Pollen source
• List of Northern American nectar sources for honey bees
• Forage (honey bee)
• List of honey plants
• Buckwheat

References

• Pollination Mid-Atlantic Apicultural Research and Extension Consortium, MAAREC Publication 5.2; February 2000
• Pollination and Bee Plants, Excerpted from Beekeeper's Handbook, Sammataro/Avitabile ©1998.

Further reading

• Krombein KV, Hurd PD Jr., Smith DR (eds.). Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico, Volume 3, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979
• McGregor, S.E. Insect Pollination Of Cultivated Crop Plants
  USDA
  , 1976