Honey Bees

     When a person talks of bees, the first thing that comes to most people's minds is this guy:

     Not the flowers, mind you, but the bee. A European Honey Bee, to be precise. They are not, in fact, natives of this continent, but they've made themselves at home.
     The honey bees come out of the hives as soon as the weather permits, and immediately begin looking for food. For the most part, bees eat pollen and sugars in the form of nectar or honey. Bees harvest nectar from flowers and store much of the nectar's sugars in honey. (But I'm sure you knew all that.) At first there won't be much for them to eat, but then the perennial plants started blooming, and then the trees. The peach blossom above, and the maple tree's flowers below are just full of food for these little foragers.

     Honey bees are pollinators, that's where their link to agriculture comes in. Basically, without being pollinated, a plant will not create fruit or seeds. The honey bee is the major domesticated pollinator of most crops (excluding alfalfa) and all of the orchards. That's why, scattered around the farmlands you'll find these.

     These boxes contain the bees' home. Beekeepers and farmers get a mutual benefit from having these scattered about. The farmers get their crops pollinated, and the beekeepers get the honey. Plus, the bees get the prime real estate, right in the middle of all the food.
     Not all honey bees are domesticated. Some are feral, and will build their nest in a suitable hollow, such as an old stump, or an abandoned (or not) building. Up in the hills they're partial to building in holes in the rocks and it's not unheard of them to build in particularly thick brush, (or even alfalfa) though the survivability of these nests is questionable.
     Domesticated or not, all of these bees are vital to agriculture, and not just in Owyhee County. They're a good companion to the farmer, and will remain so, as both parties work together to bring food to you.