The hybrid may be superior to the parents in productiveness, uniformity, earliness, resistance to diseases or insects, or other factors. Growers currently are producing hybrid onions, carrots, cucumbers, sunflowers, and several other crops. Research is under way on the production of hybrid cotton, soybeans, and alfalfa. All of these are insect-pollinated crops and will need to use colonies of bees or other pollinating insects in their production. Although this handbook principally concerns honey bees and beekeeping, pollinating agents other than honey bees should be mentioned and their relative value considered.
Wind probably is the most important pollinating agent, insofar as it benefits our existence.
The flowers of most wind-pollinated plants are either male or female. The male flowers produce an abundance of pollen to be carried by the wind. The female flowers usually have large stigmatic areas to receive the pollen. Corn is a good example of a wind-pollinated crop. Birds of several different species feed upon nectar, pollen, or insects in some flowers and serve as pollinators.