A man makes excellent profit at the work of bees. And it's not about honey.

Honey brings 7-8 billion dollars to the world agricultural budget. But pollination is $ 250 billion. Agro-efficiency expert Miron Pundor says that Ukraine loses 15 billion hryvnias a year due to the lack of bees on sunflower alone.

“Ukraine needs at least 6 million bee colonies, and there are only 3 million of them. But thanks to them, the quantity of empty flowers decreases, the percentage of oil content increases, grain ripening is accelerated, ”the expert says.

He cites the example of foreign countries that have taken cross-pollination for armament. For example, in California, 1.7 million bee colonies are imported into 400 thousand hectares of almond orchards.

One bee family costs $ 160-170, and 4-5 per hectare of almonds. According to the US Department of Agriculture, such pollination costs farmers $ 280 million, or $ 700 per hectare. But thanks to full cross-pollination, they collect 1 million tons of nuts worth more than $ 5 billion. That is, the investment pays off many times.

In Turkey, pollination brings 28 billion products. At the same time, honey production here gives only half a billion euros.

Bees are also used for pollination of berries and orchards. For example, in the apple orchard due to cross-pollination, almost 6 times more ovaries appear. At least a quarter of the weight of apples increases. Pundor believes that Ukrainian gardeners, ignoring cross-pollination, lose 50 thousand hryvnias per hectare.

He says that pollination by bees in Uzbekistan has increased the yield of apricots 6 times, cherries 22 times, and cherries 26 times. Only two bee colonies near the melon field will increase the yield by 60%. The farmer’s spending in the case of apples and melons on the bee family will amount to 50-80 dollars. Recall, one bee family is 30-60 thousand working bees.