Editing Pollination management (section)

==Types of pollinators==
Organisms that are currently being used as pollinators in managed pollination are [[honey bee]]s, [[bumblebee]]s, [[alfalfa leafcutter bee]]s, and [[orchard mason bee]]s. Other species are expected to be added to this list as this field develops. Humans also can be pollinators, as the gardener who [[Hand pollination|hand pollinates]] her [[Squash (vegetable)|squash]] blossoms, or the [[Middle East]]ern farmer, who climbs his [[date palm]]s to pollinate them.

The [[Cooperative extension service]] recommends one honey bee hive per acre (2.5 hives per hectare) for standard watermelon varieties to meet this crop's pollination needs. In the past, when fields were small, pollination was accomplished by a mix of bees kept on farms, bumblebees, carpenter bees, feral honey bees in hollow trees and other insects. Today, with melons planted in large tracts, the grower may no longer have hives on the farm; he may have poisoned many of the pollinators by spraying blooming cotton; he may have logged off the woods, removing hollow trees that provided homes for bees, and pushed out the hedgerows that were home for solitary native bees and other pollinating insects.