When you buy a fruit, a vegetable, a carton of almond milk - you might assume it’s an animal free product.

But all of those foods, and many more, rely on one small but mighty member of the animal kingdom: the bee. 

Bees – especially honeybees – are an important part of any working farm. They pollinate everything from papayas to cucumbers to coffee beans. 

Like cows, pigs, or chickens, these little buzzy workers are considered livestock: cared for and managed by farmers and beekeepers so that you can have food on your plate.

But, unlike other livestock, there is one thing farmers haven’t been able to do for their bees: provide nutritious, human-made feed when flowers aren’t blooming.

Until now.

Last month scientists unveiled a new food source designed for livestock bee colonies. They say it could help bee survival rates across the world.

Guest:

• Brandon Hopkins is the P.F. Thurber Endowed Distinguished Professor of Pollinator Ecology at Washington State University, and ran the trials for this new food. He also co-authored a study on the food source

Related stories:

• New pollen-replacing food for honey bees brings new hope for survival - WSU Insider
• A nutritionally complete pollen-replacing diet protects honeybee colonies during stressful commercial pollination—requirement for isofucosterol - The Royal Society

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.