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Most commercial bee keepers are in the northern Virginia area, from Harrisonburg north in the Shenandoah Valley, producing honey, and pollinating apples in the spring and pumpkins in the fall. According to Wellemeyer, Peter Robeson of Berryville is the largest commercial pollinator in the state, maintaining nearly 3,000 colonies.
The idea behind commercial pollination is to fully saturate an area with bees, creating competition between the hives. It makes the bees work harder, especially in crops that aren’t attractive to bees, like cucumbers and melons, which don’t produce nectar.
European honeybees are used commercially for pollination programs because they will adjust their home territories when their hives are moved. Bumblebees, though better pollinators, fly off and do not return. Honeybees are also the only bees that make surplus honey that can be harvested for human use.
Wellemeyer is concerned that most bee keepers are middle aged or seniors. “Bee keeping is as much an art as a science,” he said. “Every hive is different. Bee keeping takes common sense and thinking about what you know about
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