How Haagen-Daaz is Helping the Honeybees

Pollination Threatened by Disappearing Bees

For some time now, the honeybee population in America has been in decline. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which occurs when bees leave the hive and die, has been recorded in 35 states and other countries.

With honeybees serving 80% of the country's pollination requirements, and with up to 25% of the honeybee population disappearing over the last few winters, our natural food supply is in peril.

Haagen-Daz Helps Save Honeybees

Häagen-Daz uses all-natural ingredients and depends on bee pollination for nearly 40% of its flavors. It has committed to serving bee populations across the United States through educational programs, philanthropic events, and bee-friendly landscaping.

Haagen-Daz is also donating money to support sustainable honeybee pollination at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California at Davis. In addition, Haagen-Daz recently released the Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream flavor, which fiscally supports their cause.

Honeybees's Role in the Food Chain

Although the verdict is not out on the primary force behind the honeybee regression, it is known how the rest of the biosphere benefits from the work of bees.

Honeybees gather pollen and nectar that they find in the crevices of angiosperms (flowering plants). If honeybees do not forage for food, the reproductive process within angiosperms becomes more problematic for the plant. Many tiny yellow grains of pollen must land all over the sticky pistil (specifically the stigma) of each flower to make the seeds grow inside to produce an embryo, or, more importantly, a fruit. Honeybees facilitate this process free of charge by logging hundreds of flights a day from flower to flower.

For example, you might think seeds inside a watermelon aren't important; they get in your way when you eat a piece of melon. But if you want a sweet melon, you want pollinated seeds. A watermelon that tastes more like the rind rather than the deliciousness you enjoyed during your childhood 4th of July barbeques is a consequence of the lack of pollination when the watermelon was in blossom. As the seeds develop inside, several hormones are released, ripening and sweetening the melon. Without pollinated seeds, no hormones are discharged. This is bad news for the farmer or casual gardener. You can weed, fertilize, water, and care for those crops as well as one's children, but without bees, a tasty end product will not result.

One third of the food we eat is dependent on pollinators. These foods wouldn't grow without bees and other insects to pollinate the crops. Over 100 crops including watermelons, cantaloupes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples, cherries, oranges, peaches, and kiwifruit depend on bees to produce fruit. Vegetables such as cucumbers, squash, and some varieties of peas, beans and nuts such as macadamia nuts and almonds require bees to have a yield.

To help boost the honeybee population in your local community, Häagen-Daz suggests planting flowers and plants that will attract bees. These include lavender, glory bushes, jasmine, rosemary, coreopsis, violets, thyme, wisteria, bluebells, trumpet vine, sunflowers, cosmos and cone flowers.