15 Christmas Gifts From Insects #comedinewithbee

Without bees, we wouldn't have holly berries; without flies, hoverflies and bees our Christmas dinner would be that much duller without festive cranberry sauce. Scientists crowdfunding for research to help gardeners provide more food for bees are highlighting 15 Christmas plant foods and decorations we wouldn't have without the help of insect pollinators. Their project is called Come Dine With Bee and can be found on www.walacea.com

1. Mistletoe

To produce the delicate, pale berries, cross pollination is required. Flies and the wind do the job of getting the male and female parts of the plant together.

 

2. Holly

Holly is much prettier with berries. To produce berries, we need bees to pollinate the flowers.

 

3. Cranberries

In sauce, pink gin, tarts and table decorations, their rich colour is a must-have for Christmas. Flies, hoverflies and bees all pollinate the flowers that produce the fruit.   

4. Parsnips

Being roots, the edible parts are not the product of pollinated flowers. But the flowers do require pollination by bees and flies to produce seeds for commercial growing.

 

5. Brazil nuts and almonds

While hazelnuts and walnuts are wind-pollinated, Brazil nuts and almonds require bees. We love finger bowls of nuts at Christmas and they're rich in goodness too.

 

6. Sprouts

Sprouts are leaf buds and don't require pollination but we do need bees and flies to produce the seeds for commercial growing.

 

7. Carrots

Like parsnips and sprouts, the part we eat is not dependent on pollinators. However, the production of seeds for the next year's crop is dependent on pollination by flies and bees. The same also goes for onion used in stuffing.

 

8. Sage

A classic for stuffing. As well as bees, butterflies help pollinate the seed.

 

9. Cherries

A staple ingredient of Christmas cake and the first to go missing if the cake is left out to pick at. Flies, hoverflies and bees are all required to produce the fruit.  

 

10. Nutmeg

Its pollinator is more unusual – a type of beetle is required to produce the edible part of the tree. An ingredient in Christmas pudding and some people put it in bread sauce.

 

11. Cinnamon

The flowers are small and small insects – probably flies and bees - are required for future generations of this long-lived tree. Flowers with longer tubes require long-tongued bees and butterflies. A range of plants can sustain a range of pollinators and vice versa.   

 

12. Dairy products

The plants used in mixed pasture to improve milk quality, such as types of clover, vetches and chicory, all require pollination for next year's crop. Butterflies, flies and bees all helpfully do the job.

 

13. Cloves

Stuck in an onion for bread sauce or an orange for mulled wine, their aroma is part of the magic of Christmas. The plants require bees to fertilise.

 

14. Chocolate

The food of the gods requires a pint-sized bug. Most cocoa flowers do not get pollinated and drop to the ground instead of turning into high-value pods. The key pollinator is a biting midge. More midges, more chocolate.

 

15. Apples

Apples are an essential ingredient of fruity mince pies. Apple tree flowers require hoverflies, flies and bees for pollination and growers often hire in hives during the blooming season. 

Via walacea.com

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