WHY BEES MATTER TO THE FOOD ON OUR TABLE
Spring's smallest workers. Photograph: Rick Guy, Rick G Imagery.
From orchard blossom to zucchini, berries and the seeds that grow next season's vegetables, pollinators have a much bigger hand in what we eat than the honey jar might suggest.
Spring in Pemberton and the Southern Forests makes it difficult not to notice what's flowering.
The gardens wake up, orchards move into blossom and the landscape around us begins another growing season.
And amongst all that activity are some of its smallest workers.
Bees.
Mention bees and most of us immediately think of honey. Fair enough — we're quite fond of that too.
But from a food point of view, what bees and other pollinators do before anything reaches the kitchen is arguably the more interesting story.
Pollination: the work before the harvest
Pollination is the transfer of pollen that allows flowering plants to reproduce and produce seeds and, in many cases, fruit.
Some plants manage this through wind or self-pollination. Others rely partly or heavily on animals — particularly insects — to move pollen between flowers.
And that's where bees become extraordinarily important.
According to the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, around 35% of Australian crops need bees for pollination, while up to 75% of crops benefit from bee pollination.
Think about some of the foods that can involve insect pollination: apples, cherries, blackberries, avocados, almonds, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, zucchini and rockmelons. Their degree of dependence varies considerably, but the connection between pollinators and a diverse food supply is significant.
Which means the story of bees and food is considerably bigger than honey.
Look at a spring menu and you'll find the connection
This becomes particularly interesting when you start looking at food through the seasons.
Take zucchini.
For most varieties, insect pollination is considered essential, with production potentially falling dramatically without it. Apples, cherries, blackberries and related berries, avocados, almonds and cucumbers also have strong relationships with animal pollination.
Then there are vegetables where the connection is less obvious.
We might eat a part of the plant that doesn't itself require insect pollination, but pollination may still matter when it comes to producing the seed needed to grow the next crop.
It's a useful reminder that the story behind an ingredient often begins well before anyone walks into a kitchen.
Not everything needs a bee — including our grapes
There is an important distinction here.
Not everything we grow or eat relies on bees.
Grapevines, for example, don't require insect pollination to produce grapes. Wheat, rice, barley and maize are among other major crops that don't depend on insects for their production.
We rather like that fact because it demonstrates just how varied the relationship between food and pollination actually is.
Some crops depend heavily on pollinators. Others benefit from them. Some need pollination for seed production rather than the part we eat. And others don't require insect pollination at all.
But stand back and look at a varied table — particularly one filled with fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds — and pollinators become very difficult to ignore.
Globally, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that about 75% of food crop types depend to some extent on pollinators, with pollinators contributing to approximately 35% of global crop production by volume.
And it isn't only honey bees
When we talk about agricultural pollination, European honey bees understandably receive a lot of attention.
Managed honey bee colonies can be brought into flowering crops when they're needed, which makes them particularly valuable to commercial agriculture.
But they aren't working alone.
Wild and native bees are part of a much broader community of pollinators, which can also include flies, butterflies, moths, beetles and other animals.
Research here in Western Australia has even examined the potential of different species of flies as pollinators of horticultural crops. Researchers found evidence that several groups of flies can contribute to crop pollination and may have potential to supplement managed honey bee services.
That's important because biodiversity matters.
Pollination isn't simply an agricultural service. Pollinators also help flowering plants reproduce and therefore contribute to the ecosystems and habitats surrounding our farms, orchards, vineyards and towns. The FAO notes that more than 80% of wild flowering plant species are pollinated by animals, predominantly insects.
Pollination at work. Photograph: Rick Guy, Rick G Imagery.
A small creature with a very large job
Perhaps that's what makes bees such an interesting way to think about food.
A plate doesn't begin in the kitchen.
It begins with seasons. With growers. With flowering plants. With weather. With soil. And with countless natural processes most of us rarely stop to consider when lunch arrives.
Pollination is one of them.
Here in the Southern Forests, where so much of the pleasure of cooking comes from what's growing around us at a particular moment, it seems worth occasionally noticing the small creatures doing some of that work.
As Ardal puts it:
“You say bees and everyone immediately thinks honey. But that's only part of it. Look at what's growing around us and how much of it relies on pollination, and suddenly you've got a much more interesting story to tell through food.”— Ardal
And that seemed like a story worth bringing to the table.
From pollination to the plate at Hidden River Estate
On Saturday 24 October 2026, we're exploring that connection around the table at Hidden River Estate as part of the Northcliffe Bee Festival.
Our Bee-Long Table Evening is a four-course seasonal degustation celebrating bees, pollination and the food they help make possible.
And no, that doesn't mean four courses covered in honey.
It's about the much bigger connection between pollinators, growers, seasonal produce and what eventually arrives on our table.
A glass of Hidden River Estate Blanc de Blanc is included on arrival, before we settle in for four courses inspired by that story.
Saturday 24 October 2026
Four-course seasonal degustation
$170 per person
Further reading
If you'd like to dig a little deeper into the science behind pollination:
The photo's are awesome, Rick G!