Honey bee pollination of coffee plants

Researcher swabs the body of a honeybee with fuschin gel to later use to identify the pollen particles on the bee's body and determine what plants the bee visited. The overal purpose of the project is to enable the Department of Applied Ecology of North Carolina State University (NCSU), Center for Landscape Conservation (CLC), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to analyze information about the habitat enhancement and best practices program administered by NRCS-San Juan. The specific goals are to: 1) better understand the potential impact of actions on shade coffee and other landcover types in the area between Adjuntas and Maricao, 2) help direct resources (actions) to areas, where collectively, could foster wildlife persistence while promoting coffee production, and 3) identify ways that promote pollination of coffee plants by means of multiple habitat enhancement actions and practices available to farmers through the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the Caribbean Area.