Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

How valuable are Swiss bees?

Plantage with cherry trees
Cherry trees pollinated by wild bees in Berneck in eastern Switzerland Keystone

What is the economic value of the Swiss bee? For the first time, scientists have put a figure on their important work transporting pollen between flowering plants.

Experts at the government’s agriculture research centre, Agroscope, have calculated that the work of Swiss bees is worth CHF350 million ($365 million) annually.

To come up with this figure, they analysed Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) statistics giving the percentage of crops and plants pollinated by bees, and compared them with Swiss crops. These included fruit trees, berries, high-quality sunflowers, rape seed and fava beans.

According to Agroscope, 14% of Swiss farm land is dependent on pollination by bees.

Agroscope researcher Louis Sutter is calling for more habitats and hives that allow bees to develop and get through winter. 

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR