Study: Hemp Crops Could Restore Bee Populations

Hemp and cannabis plants do not produce nectar, but their pollen can keep bee populations happy and well-fed. Specifically, the study found that bees not only love the pollen from cannabis and hemp plants — they also can benefit from the plants’ abundance of pollen as a subsistence resource during times when local flora diversity has been stripped due to modern farming practices or a natural occurrence, such as drought. Bees are especially drawn to larger crop plots and taller plants, meaning industrial hemp carries the most benefits as an industry for the bees.