Seeing wooden boxes in almond orchards in Merced County? Here’s why they’re vital for crops

Motorists driving through the Central Valley this time of year will see a common sight of wooden boxes placed along the edges of almond orchards throughout Merced County. What is housed in those boxes are honeybees, who play a vital role in crop production in the Central Valley.

At Riverdance Farms in Livingston, the bees help pollinate the roughly 18 acres of almond trees planted on the farm. The farm, owned by Cindy Lashbrook, 70, and her husband Bill Thompson, 79, spans a total of about 72 acres, 55 of which are suitable for farming. The couple have owned the farm since 1996 and grow crops including almonds, walnuts, pecans, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, grapes, apricots, peaches and more.

Lashbrook said most varieties of almonds grown on the farm are not self-fertile, but rely on a pollinator to pollinate the almond blossoms and in turn help the almonds grow. This is where the honeybees come in. Lashbrook said the bees will move from flower to flower, pollinating the trees and resulting in a better almond yield.

Almonds harvest at various times of the year. The earliest harvest is usually in August, while others harvest in September and early October.

But the bees don’t stop once the almond trees have finished blossoming. Lashbrook said the bees will also work to pollinate other crops such as peach trees, cherry trees and later on blueberries.

“Anything with kind of a pretty, real noticeable flower usually needs a bee or an insect or some sort of pollinator,” said Lashbrook. That’s why they put all that energy into making those pretty flowers.”

For Beekeeper Martin Nordenstrom, 28, what was once a full-time job is now a part-time job and hobby fueled by his passion for bees.

His beekeeping journey started in Argentina, where he attended university to learn bee keeping. Nordenstrom moved to the United States about seven years ago and after initially managing 24 hives, that later grew to a total of about 700 hives while involved in a larger operation. He now manages hives part-time and has been supplying honeybees to Riverdance Farms for about two years.

It waswhile studying agriculture in Argentina, that Nordenstrom said his passion for beekeeping began.

“In that we have a beekeeping class,” he said. “Once I went to that beekeeping class the teacher, she opened the hive. When she opened that hive, I completely fell in love with it.”

Nordenstrom said he prefers to work with Italian honeybees for their hardworking nature and adaptability making them suitable for California. With the pollinating season coming to an end for almond trees, Nordenstrom said cherry trees are the next large crop the bees will be working to pollinate on the farm as well as the farm’s blueberries.

While working to look after the hives, Nordenstrom will make sure the bees have enough nectar, feeding them when necessary. He also looks after the bees’ health, providing organic medicine when needed and making sure pests such as the varroa mite do not attack and feed on the honeybees.

White wooden boxes containing anywhere from eight to ten frames are stacked near cherry trees on the farm. In about one week, the cherry blossoms will begin to bloom, Nordstrom said, and the bees will fly from the boxes to the cherry blossom flowers pollinating the trees.

“The cherries make a really good nectar,” Nordenstrom said. “So they just go right after the cherries.”

Nordenstrom said he has no plans to move the bee boxes currently located near the orchard of cherry trees on the farm. Not only is it a lot of work to move the bees, there are more than enough crops and flowers on the farm to keep the bees thriving.

“Here they have everything they need,” he said. “Here they have all the flowers, all the pollen. They’re right next to the river, they have water. So they’re like the happiest bees ever,” he said.

This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 1:20 PM.