Over the past few years, bees have been getting quite a bit of attention, and rightfully so! These small winged fluffy creatures are extremely important to agriculture. Many people fall under the common misconception that bees pollinate flowers and then lose track of where they go from there. But bees affect many things. Think about it, just about every single person on the planet is affected by bees. Have you eaten blueberries before? Watermelon, tomatoes, nuts, apples, avocados? All of these, and many more, are pollinated by bees.

Vineyards are typically grown as a monoculture, meaning a single crop is planted on the same land season after season, which can lead to soil degradation and reduced biodiversity unless additional measures are taken. Because grapevines are perennial plants that can live for over 100 years, they pose a viable opportunity to create diverse ecosystems.

Bees help combat the monocultural nature of a vineyard by pollinating the plants and cover crops, such as mustard and clover, that grow around the grapevines. In turn, cover crops promote health soil by improving or maintaining soil organic matter and play a vital role in combating climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.