Hard At Work

Honey bees are well-known pollinators. With their hairy bodies and pollen baskets, they transfer pollen from flower to flower as they busily seek out the nectar that they put in their honey stores. A single honey bee colony can pollinate millions of flowers a day, thereby helping to ensure the production of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables that humans need to survive. The current decline in the bee population, due to disease, the use of insecticides, and habitat loss, therefore represents a threat to global food security. In this quilt, however, the future is bright; the bees are hard at work and thriving on the wide variety of flowers that have been planted. They are doing what they know best.