Click here to see a comprehensive list of foods bees are responsible for pollinating.
Aside from pollinating many of the foods we eat every day without giving it another thought, there are several species of wild plants that depend on bees to thrive as well.
Bees’ pollinating role is also vital in the habitat building of other animals and insects.
They’re also responsible for the growth of rainforests, temperate deciduous forests, and savannah woodlands.
Bees support the growth of other plants, flowers, and trees and contribute to the complex interconnected ecosystem on which every species on the planet depends on to thrive.
How Can Hemp Help Save the Bees?
Hemp has been heralded as a miracle plant by many. So miraculous that it just may save the world.
Jack Herer, author of the renowned book on hemp’s history, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, once said, “I don’t know if hemp is going to save the world, but it’s the only thing that can.”
From restoring depleted soils through phytoremediation, freeing our dependency on fossil fuels, replacing plastic, providing food, reduce the effects of carbon emissions, and preventing deforestation, hemp has a lot of potential to bring some balance back to our highly-unstable world.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the bees.

A paper presented at an entomology conference in November by University of Colorado student, Colton O’Brien, reported that 23 different bee species living in Colorado had been caught in traps placed in a hemp field during a one-month period that took place in August.
O’Brien started the project because of a simple reflection.
“You walk through the fields and you hear buzzing everywhere,” O’Brien said at the conference.
In his paper, “What’s with all the buzzing?”, O’Brien contends that he performed his experiment at two hemp farms in northern Colorado, where hemp tends to flower between late July and late September.
Hemp flowering happens after other species of plants have completed their blooming cycle, which can ultimately lead to a shortage of nutritional pollination sources for bees during these months.
According to the paper, “hemp becomes a valuable pollen source for foraging bees, giving it the potential to have a strong ecological value.”
O’Brien contends that increased pesticide control policies in hemp production is vital, as much for the quality of the hemp and related products as preserving the health of the bees.
According to Colorado State University entomologist, Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, it’s “shocking how valuable hemp is as a pollen resource for all kinds of bees.”
Cranshaw says that in areas of the country that don’t have strong populations of flowering plants, hemp production could do wonders to save declining bee populations.
“In this part of the country where there’s not a lot of alternative flowering plants, hemp is a godsend for bees,” Cranshaw says.

“I don’t think it’s that big a deal if you’re on the East Coast where there’s lots of other flowers, but you grow it in an arid place like Colorado—particularly in a drought year like this year—I mean the bees are going nuts in the hemp. It’s a wonderful resource.”
With the recent passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp production throughout the US is expected to expand exponentially.
What this means for dwindling bee populations remains yet to be seen, however, with new evidence pointing towards the idea that hemp could save dwindling bee populations, the future looks promising for these extremely important insects.
Hemp, it seems, truly is the bee’s knees 