by Larry Powell A wild bee on a sunflower. A PinP photo. For two years, US researchers studied the impact that both bee pollinators and beetle pests had on seedless watermelon. What they found was striking. Flea beetles feast on turnip-tops in Manitoba, A PinP photo. In both years, p ollination by the bees was “the only significant factor” in both fruit set and marketable yield - even when compared to the harm done by the pests. Not only that, the wild bees increased those yields anywhere from one-&-a-half to three times more than honeybees. So the researchers conclude; If you want better yields, it’s more important to protect the bees that pollinate them than to kill the pests which eat them! “These data," they state, "advocate for a reprioritization of management, to conserve and protect wild bee pollinations, which could be more critical than avoiding pest damage for ensuring high yields.” But the lead author of the study, As