Farmer’s flower field keeps Mikkeli bees feeding through summer

A farmer’s decision to sow a flower field near three beehives has helped sustain local pollinators in Mikkeli, Yle reports. Experts say abundant food helps pollinators reproduce more effectively, even as farmers are applying for support for flower fields less often.

Anu Hintikka-Pulkkinen has spent the summer watching bees fly from flower to flower and back to their hives. Her three hives stand beside a field owned by farmer Arto Jukarainen.

In early summer, Hintikka-Pulkkinen realised that the field would be filled with flowers instead of grass.

“In spring, I had planted small patches of phacelia next to the hives. It made me laugh when I realised there were four hectares of it flowering blue right next door,” she said.

Jukarainen decided in the spring to establish a pollinator flower field by sowing flowers that provide food for pollinators. The lack of suitable habitats, such as flower meadows, is considered the main reason pollinators are struggling around the world.

Hintikka-Pulkkinen has seen the effect in her hives. They have been filled with a bluish-purple colour towards the end of the summer, created by pollen brought in by the bees.

Her husband, Mikko Pulkkinen, believes their hives may produce more bees this summer than many other beekeepers’ hives.

Fireweed will soon stop flowering, after which bees would have little food available in nature without the sown meadow. When food runs out, bees begin preparing for winter. The meadow extends the bees’ summer.

The couple also believe they have harvested more redcurrants this summer because of the bees.

Ida-Maria Huikkonen, an expert at the Finnish Environment Institute, said abundant food benefits pollinators considerably.

She gave bumblebees as an example. The more food they receive, the larger a nest they can build. In a larger nest, they can produce offspring more efficiently.

More offspring also means more new queens. The queens continue reproducing the following summer by establishing new nests, allowing the population to grow.

The direct effects of flower meadows do not extend very far, Huikkonen said. Bumblebees travel the furthest, searching for food several kilometres from their nest, while solitary bees generally fly only a couple of hundred metres.

Even a flower planting in a backyard can therefore make a significant difference to the success of local pollinators. The more favourable habitats there are, the more pollinators there will be.

Meadows and plantings of suitable nectar plants can also form a network of habitats, allowing their effects to extend across a wider area, Huikkonen said.

Farmers are seeking less support

Although the shortage of pollinators has been widely discussed in recent years, the establishment of pollinator flower fields has not increased. According to the Finnish Food Authority, farmers have applied for support for growing biodiversity plants less each year.

Jukarainen’s idea for the field came from Hintikka-Pulkkinen’s neighbouring beehives. He had grown grain but no longer considered it worthwhile because of rising costs.

After discussing his options with a ProAgria adviser, Jukarainen decided to plant flowers. The pollinator field does not generate income either.

Villagers have thanked Jukarainen for making the landscape more attractive. The Finnish Food Authority pays 210 euros per hectare in support for growing biodiversity plants.