There has been a lot of discussion on what would happen to our food supply if the pollinator population (both native bees and imported honey bees) were to decline dramatically or disappear altogether. The overall consensus is that it is not a good outcome for us humans.
What I didn’t realize is that some areas of the world are already dealing with a lack of adequate pollinators for their crops. In the Maoxian county of Sichuan, China, workers now have to pollinate pear and apple trees by hand because the pollinator population has, for all intents and purposes, been destroyed.
You can read the entire Guardian article here, but is a sobering look of what could happen if fundamental changes to America’s and the world’s agricultural practices are not made in the near future.
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 
Hi Karl, this reminds me of something cool I once learned from a scientist I met who lived in the Arizona Biosphere. He said they had figured out this quick way to pollinate their crops by waiting for a certain time of day when the petals/leaves were more open, then coordinating rapping sharply on the stalks of the plants (all in rows) with a long bamboo cane, and simultaneously turning on fans across to blow the pollen. They discovered this astronomical percentage of success in doing this. Isn’t that amazing?
– Lorie