Researchers on a mission to find pollinator friends for honey bees

It looks like a bee, it looks like a bee and even works the same way. But it's actually a fly.

Key Points: Unlike bees, hoverflies don't mind working in cool, windy conditions Hoverflies feed only on nectar and pollenBees and hoverflies work well together on the same flower

Researchers in several states have attempted to determine the effectiveness of flying flies as alternate pollinators in crops such as avocados, mangoes, berries, and vegetable seed crops .

A few of the vegetable seed companies have collaborated on the subject in Tasmania by mass rearing the hoverfly (Eristalis tenax), which is endemic to Tasmania. State.

They then monitored their behavior on carrot seed crops under tunnels and on commercial farms in the Derwent Valley and North Midlands to ensure that hoverflies can effectively displace the po llen between the male and female lines of carrot seed flowers.

Hannah Allwright works at a research polytunnel in southern Tasmania. (Supplied: Annick Upchurch)

Hannah Allwright, research and production agronomist at South Pacific Seeds, said the hover fly was up to the task.

"They're big and they're hairy," she said.

"The hairs catch the pollen and that's how they carry it.

"They cross male to female seed lines, which is really important."

What makes this fly special?< p class="_39n3n">Unlike honey bees, flying flies don't seem bothered by overcast weather or wi in good weather.

This means they start working on a crop earlier in the day.

Hannah Allwright and Ashlea Schott inspect a carrot seed crop in northern Tasmania. (ABC Rural: Laurissa Smith)

Ashlea Schott, head of seed production and research at Bejo Seeds, said there is complementary behavior between species.

"Honeybees might not work in some crops as well as we would like, or they might not work in some production areas," she said. .

"This is where that other species of pollinator, this hoverfly, can really step in to make a difference."