 Bumblebees are important pollinators of both crops and wildflowers . Because bumblebees do not overwinter the entire colony , they do not stockpile honey , so are not useful as honey producers . Bumblebees are increasingly cultured for agricultural use as pollinators , among other reasons because they can pollinate plants such as tomato in greenhouses by buzz pollination whereas other pollinators cannot . Commercial production began in 1987 , when Roland De <unk> founded the <unk> company ; in 1988 they produced enough nests to pollinate 40 hectares of tomatoes . The industry grew quickly , starting with other companies in the Netherlands . Bumblebee nests , mainly of buff @-@ tailed bumblebees , are produced in at least 30 factories around the world ; over a million nests are grown annually in Europe ; Turkey is a major producer . 
