If you remember back to elementary school science, you\u2019ll remember that pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male parts of a flower to the female parts of the same or a different flower.\u00a0 Some plants like grasses and pine trees rely on wind, a sheer quantity of pollen, and a little luck for pollination to happen in order for viable fertilization to occur.\u00a0 This is what causes many people to be riddled with allergy problems this time of year and why my white truck has a dull yellow patina.<\/p>\n
Other plants have evolved over the millenia into a more specialized form of pollination to include things like showy, colorful flowers, pleasing aromas, or tasty nectar to lure insects, birds, and mammals to do this work for them. \u00a0For most of the fruits and vegetables that we enjoy, this pollination is done by insects such as flies, moths, butterflies, wasps and bees.\u00a0 Without insect pollinators, we would lose the ketchup and mustard on our hamburgers and the dessert menu would be without strawberry and chocolate ice cream.\u00a0 Even worse, we would eventually be reduced to wearing polyester, or heaven forbid, spandex, as insects are critical in the production of cotton.<\/p>\n
A 2014 economic impact study by the University of Georgia determined that the annual value of pollination to Georgia is over $360 million. \u00a0A similar nationwide study was released by the White House in June 2014 and it estimated that insect pollinators contribute more than $24 billion to the U.S. economy. \u00a0This service is just as critical to our agriculture as rainfall and soil fertility.<\/p>\n