Feb 24, 2011
No thanks to the recent storms, almond orchards are encountering Nature's Extreme Makeover--from fluffy popcorn blossoms to tattered petals reminiscent of bottom-of-the-bag kernels.
Still, there's something spectacular about driving down a rural road in Dixon, Calif., and encountering rows and rows of almond trees.
Look a little closer and you'll see the bee hives. (It takes two hives per acre to pollinate California's 750,000 acres of almonds.)
Look a little closer and you'll catch a bee in the act of pollinating.
Today the cold temperature, plodding rain and incessant wind kept the bees clustered inside their hives.
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Attached Images:
![ALMOND ORCHARD in Dixon, Calif. shows rows and rows of popcornlike blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) ALMOND ORCHARD in Dixon, Calif. shows rows and rows of popcornlike blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/6285.jpg)
Almond Orchard
![BEE HIVES in a Dixon, Calif. orchard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) BEE HIVES in a Dixon, Calif. orchard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/6286.jpg)
Bee Hives
![HONEY BEE pollinating an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) HONEY BEE pollinating an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/6287.jpg)
Honey Bee