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A future without bees

Wild pollinators and farmed bees, which we use to pollinate many crops, are declining. One high-tech alternative is to drop pollen from drones. But is this a short-term solution?

Tech companies have developed drones to drop pollen on orchards or shoot it at crops through pipes from tractors.

They’re responding to a crisis in insect pollination as studies suggest numbers of both wild pollinators and farmed bees are declining. This could have a serious knock-on effect on how we grow our fruit and veg. But some experts argue high-tech alternatives are a short-term solution to a much bigger and long-term problem.

Presenter: Claire Bates
Reporter: Craig Langran

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23 minutes

Last on

Sun 5 Jul 2020 23:06GMT

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