View larger image | A blue orchard bee typically pollinates for only about six weeks, after developing and hunkering down in its nest. Each honeybee doesn't have a long pollination period either, but bees in a colony reach adulthood at different times, meaning new pollinators replace old ones and pollination can continue throughout the year. Farmers who hope to rely on blue orchard bees need to stir the bees from dormancy just as the crop is blooming - or miss a crucial window. Credit: Source: R.R. James and T.L. Pitts-Singer, ed./Bee Pollination in Agricultural Ecosystems 2008