Canadian company enlists bees to deliver crop protection

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Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (BVT) has created a way for bees to deliver a bacterial fungicide to blueberry, sunflower and other crops to help protect them from disease in a method it says is cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, long considered the gold-standard for approvals, recently certified BVT's proprietary ingredient and the company now plans to start selling the system to American farmers and expedite its push for approvals in other countries, including Canada.

The company sets up bumble bee or honey bee hives on farms and installs special trays filled with Vectorite inside that the bees must walk through, picking up the powder on their feet, before flying away to pollinate nearby crops. The process works for fields of strawberries, sunflowers, apples, tomatoes, canola and blueberries. The system requires less chemicals, machinery and water than traditional distribution methods, the company says.

The food system depends on bees, which pollinate much of the world's food supply. One out of every three bites of food people eat is made possible by pollinators like honey bees, according to Bees Matter, a partnership of agricultural organizations that say they have a vested interest in pollinator health.

"The reality is, since we work with commercial beekeepers, if we had an adverse effect, we would automatically be out of business."

 

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Canadian company enlists bees to deliver crop protection, plans rapid expansionBee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (BVT) has created a way for bees to deliver a bacterial fungicide to blueberry, sunflower and other crops to help protect them from disease.
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