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Beeflow says its nutrients enable bees to carry out up to seven times
as many flights, each time carrying more than double the pollenAbout a gallon of the liquid formula is poured into each hive, which holds as
many as 50,000 bees, close to double the standard numberAt a 9-acre pilot
project on an
Oregon blueberry
farm this winter,
Beeflow estimates
yields increased
25% and berries
grew 22% largerMaking Worker Bees Work Better
Beekeepers help pollinate about 70% of the world’s crops; they charge $435 million for their services each year in the
U.S. One way farmers can increase their return on this huge investment is to hire better bees. Argentine startup Beeflow
says it’s more than doubled the pollen-carrying capacity of its tiny workers by feeding them custom compounds. The
nutrients enhance the bees’ immune systems to handle colder conditions and also increase their attraction to the
particular flower the farmer wants them to pollinate—blueberries, raspberries, or all-important almonds, which account
for 82% of pollination-services spending, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The 2-year-old company
tested its insect fuel this season in the fields of a major California almond farmer and on raspberry crops for Driscoll’s,
America’s largest berry grower. On deck: cherries and avocados. �Text by Larissa Zimberoff; photographs by Ian Bates