“We’re Farmers, Not Beekeepers”: a Cultural Model of Pollination Management Among Lowbush Blueberry Growers in the United States and Canada

Abstract

In this article, we present a cultural model of lowbush blueberry growers’ pollination management. Through content analysis of semi-structured interviews with growers in Maine, United States, and Prince Edward Island, Canada, we identify a shared, tacit model used by growers to understand crop pollination and management. This cultural model explains growers’ perceptions of and attitudes toward pollination; this informs their management practices. Growers believe that pollination is a crucial component of crop management and design their management strategies with consideration for three distinct sources of pollination—honeybees, other commercially managed bees, and wild bees. On-farm pollinator conservation is a strategy growers use to manage uncertainty rather than a distinct schema in growers’ cultural model. We discuss ways that outreach professionals can consider growers’ cultural models when designing communications and trainings about pollinator conservation. We argue that cultural modeling can improve understanding among groups with shared interests yet different perceptions, such as farmers, researchers, and Cooperative Extension agents.