Almond orchards in bloom, Sacramento Valley, California, USA

© Anthony Dunn/Alam

Blooms in the valley. A tale of almonds and bees

Every February in California, the almond trees bloom, sparking a massive migration of commercial beekeepers to the third largest state in the US. With beehives stacked high onto articulated lorries, they transport their honeybee colonies to almond orchards in the Sacramento and San Joaquin areas of California’s Central Valley, renting the little workers out to farmers. With more than two thirds of America’s honeybees mobilised for pollinating almond trees, it’s become the largest managed pollination effort in the world.