IF YOU STEP INTO A SWEET or tart cherry orchard during bloom, you'll find bees pollinating flowers. But contrary to popular belief, according to researchers from the Integrated Crop Pollination Project, it's more than just honeybees doing the work.It's well known that the majority of varieties grown for sweet cherry are not self-fertile and require pollen from compatible varieties to set fruit. Researchers from Germany found that, without bees, sweet cherries produce only 3% of their maximum yield. Growers typically rent honeybees to make sure that sweet cherries get pollinated.Tart cherries, on the other hand, are self-fertile. 'Montmorency,' the most common tart cherry variety grown in the U.S., is planted in single-variety blocks. Even though it is self-fertile, researchers in Michigan showed that yields increase significantly when bees are present.
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