Which commercial crops are not pollinated as well by honey bees alone as by both honey and bumbles?

Photo: Cucurbits such as the cucumbers pictured above can produce 70% more when 'buzz pollinated' by bumble bees. See the difference in fruit set between the two cucumbers sliced open above.

Many crops, particularly those crops such as blueberry, cranberry cucurbits and tomatoes are best pollinated by “buzz pollination,” which a number of solitary bees such as bumbles do, but not honey bees. The size and shape of bumble bodies plus buzz pollination causes them to be better pollinators for sthose larger flowers of plants such as cucurbits (squash, melons, cucumbers). Also bumbles forage earlier and later in the day than most of the honey bees and that better matches when some species of flowers are open.

However, honey bee colonies with their much larger numbers of pollinators (whole pallets of hives!) contribute in quantity to crop pollination of even those flowers, very important in large fields.