According to a recent study from Cornell University, industrial hemp provides, "a critical nutritional resource to a diverse community of bees," especially in late summer when other pollen sources are in short supply.
And ... Bees LOVE hemp! But, not all hemp.
Hemp pollen is only produced by the male hemp plant found in industrial hemp grown for fiber and oilseed. Hemp grown for CBD and other cannabinoids produce only female plants that have small flowers that don't produce any nectar or pollen.
Researchers at Colorado State University found that hemp pollen attracted no less than 23 unique kinds of bees in their study, predominantly the common European honey bee and wild bumble bee.
This research comes at a time when pollinator populations are in global decline, with potentially dire consequences for the world’s food supply, according to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The studies help clarify the role that hemp might play in the relationship between agriculture and biodiversity. America’s hemp industry is exploding — according to the USDA, the acreage of land under cultivation in the U.S. has grown a hundredfold since restrictions were first loosened in the 2014 Farm Bill.
Read the full article at www.wikileaf.com