BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 17, 2023
Bees are critical to Maine’s blueberry and other crops, including apples and clover. And a variety of bees is key to a good crop of blueberries, including non-native honey bees, which Wyman’s imports from southern parts of the U.S., and native species like the bumblebee and the sand bee. Wyman’s has set aside about 1,300 acres of protected habitat for the native bees, which have access to fields of wildflowers to eat. It also uses a pest-management program to protect the pollinators. The 149-year-old company this year also started a three-acre wild blueberry research field with the University of Maine to study how the berries grow and how they respond to temperature, precipitation and freezing conditions. That could help Wyman’s understand how the plants might respond to climate change effects in 50 years.