# Icecream and pollinators



## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

Every year we help out at "Farm and Field Days", an excursion for 4th graders to show them where their food comes from. Our bee club brings a couple of obs hives, but we have also inherited the talk on pollinators in general. We originally used a collection of fruits and veggies, and a pair of pictures showing the difference of a produce section with and without pollinators. 

Reaching kids hearts with broccoli is a spotty proposition. Midway thru last year it struck me that ice cream may be the better vehicle for reaching that age group. As I thought about it, ice cream becomes pretty boring without the contribution of pollinators.

I refined that idea this year, but my background info is still sketchy. Clearly, ice cream is possible without pollinators (sugar cane is not a fruit and can grow from cuttings). But the main flavors, vanilla and chocolate, depend on specialized pollinators. There are a few fruits and nuts that don't require pollinators. There are fruits and nuts that CAN produce without pollinators but are more productive or make better quality fruit if pollinated. And then there are those that absolutely depend on pollinators. The ones that are better with pollinators are likely not commercially as useful if not assisted by pollinators. Many commercial varieties are hybrids that require a cross with another line in order to set fruit, so even if the wild varieties are self-fertile, the commercial ones are frequently pollinator-dependent.

So without pollinators I came up with caramel, mint, banana, peanut, pistachios, cinnamon, sour cherries, grapes/raisins, and oysters.

Yeah, oysters ... a favorite of Dolley Madison, but unanimously unpopular with the 4th graders.

My apologies in advance ... there are tabulation problems with the list. I had it lined up on the draft page but the tabs went away on the final form. Maybe I can figure out how to post the spreadsheet.

Your contributions and corrections are welcome, and you're welcome to use this idea if you find it useful.


*Ice Cream and Pollinators 

Pollinators Not Required * 

Sugar Sap from cane, grown mostly from cuttings. A grass. 
Caramel	Overcooked sugar 
Mint Leaf-derived, can grow from cuttings 
Cookie Dough 
Banana	The one commercial banana propagates by cuttings. Bats pollinate in the wild. 
Cinnamon	Bark-derived, can grow from cuttings. 
Oysters (Dolley Madison)	Not making this up! 
Peanuts, Peanut butter Self pollinate
Pistachios Female flowers do not attract bees 
Grapes, Raisins Wind pollinate 

*Pollinator Benefit?	*

*Fruits Essential	Better Cross/SS	Not Req.	Pollenated by * 
Cherry, sweet	Most Most HB and other bees, insects. 
Cherry, sour X X (Mixed reports, crosses may benefit?)	
Cherry, black	X Native bees 
Strawberry X Maybe Produce better-formed fruit with bees. 
Blueberries X X HB, native bees, noctunal moths?	Black flies, mosquitos, a myth?
Apples X X HB, bumbles, solitary bees 
Pears	X X HB, tho' they would often rather find better 
Raspberries X HB, bumbles, solitary bees 
Honeydew X X Bees 
Lychee X Mostly bees, wasps, beetles, flies, some wind 
Peach Some Some Most Mostly wind, but bees are helpful. 
Lemon, lime X Self-pollinate, but somewhat more productive with bees 
Orange X Self-pollinate, but somewhat more productive with bees 
Mango X Native flies, HB, ants, bats 
Guava ? X HB, bats 
Acai Berry A palm. Hard to find but probably wind/insects? 
Pineapple Bats, hummingbirds (edible fruit better without pollination: seeds) 
Grape/Raisins Most Self-pollinate, wind 
Pumpkin X X Bees 
Prunes/plums X	Some Bees, other insects. 
Fig X Specialized wasps, supported by specialized ants 

*Beans, Nuts * 
Vanilla Melipona bees 
Chocolate Chocolate midge 
Coffee, Arabica X Mostly bees. Bats and birds for pest control. 
Coffee, Robusta	X X Mostly bees. Bats and birds for pest control. 
Pecans/Pralines	X X Multiple pollinators work best 
Almonds X X HB (almost total dependence commercially) 
Walnuts X X Bees, other insects 
Pistachio X Wind. Female flowers do not attract bees. 
Coconut X Wind and insects, including bees 
Peanuts X Self-pollinating 

*Other Flavors	* 
Butterscotch	Mostly sugar, butter but usually has vanilla 

*Dolley Madison Oddballs	*http://www.pbs.org/food/features/ice-cream-founding-fathers/ 
Oyster X 
Asparagrus Pollination needed to make seeds 


Refs 
http://extension.psu.edu/plants/gar...tion-requirements-for-various-fruits-and-nuts 
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/pe...ent_for_successful_peach_pollinationtion.html


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## Absinthe (Feb 26, 2016)

In our bee class the fellow did something similar with a Big Mac. I think by the time he was done he ended up with the burgers and the bread, and perhaps the cheese. Definitely an interesting exercise.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

Absinthe said:


> In our bee class the fellow did something similar with a Big Mac. I think by the time he was done he ended up with the burgers and the bread, and perhaps the cheese. Definitely an interesting exercise.


OK, you goaded me back in. Its been a while.

The pollinator talk has evolved.

I now ask the kids what else is used to make iced cream, and they usually come up with milk or cream. I ask where milk comes from. Most know about cows although a few think it is the grocery store. Then I ask what cows eat.

"Grass" is the usual answer. And grass, of course, is wind pollinated.

But I tell them that grass is cow junk food and if you really watch cows they would rather eat (pull up the next poster or slide) clover, alfalfa, and assorted other little flowering pasture plants most of which are in the legume family. Each picture of one of these plants has a flower and each one has a pollinator on a flower, usually bees and butterflies.

I explain that these flowering plants produce more protein than grass and so pollinators are even helpful for making milk. And hamburger.

Leaving the bun and corn as about the only two things on the picnic menu with no pollinator involvement.

The pollinator talk has gotten more in demand now ... it got me suckered into becoming a Master Naturalist, where I seem to be the chapter expert on pollinators.


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## Absinthe (Feb 26, 2016)

Phoebee said:


> OK, you goaded me back in. Its been a while.
> 
> The pollinator talk has evolved.
> 
> ...


Excellent! Does sound exciting. How often do you give the presentation?


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

This year? Not at all! But I was scheduled to give a pollinator talk to a bunch of birders when the virus hit, with a "Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience" (MWEE) talk to third graders shortly after that. My wife and I usually handle the pollinator segment on that twice a year, spring and fall, three days, four classes a day. The "Farm and Field Days" talk to fourth graders is generally three days in the fall, reaching about 14 classes a day. I have also been bringing it up at our county fair bee booth.

For the Master Naturalist talks I've also rigged a pair of webcams, one set up with a filter than passes only UVA light, to illustrate that bees and some other pollinators can see things that humans can't.


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