A Chinese farmer pollinates a pear tree by hand on March 25, 2016 in Hanyuan County, Sichuan province, China. Heavy pesticide use on fruit trees in the area caused a severe decline in wild bee populations, and trees are now pollinated by hand in order to produce better fruit. Farmers pollinate the pear blossom individually. Hanyuan County describes itself as the 'world's pear capital', but the long-term viability of hand pollination is being challenged by rising labor costs and declining fruit yields. A recent United Nations biodiversity report warned that populations of bees, butterflies, and other pollinating species could face extinction due to habitat loss, pollution, pesticides, and climate change. It noted that animal pollination is responsible for 5-8% of global agricultural production, meaning declines pose potential risks to the world's major crops and food supply. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Can you imagine a world without bees?

Farmers in rural parts of China have killed off most of the local bee ecosystem by overspraying pesticide and now are required to fertilize the flowers there with their bare hands.

Getty Images photographer Kevin Frayer captured many striking images of rural peasants having to painstakingly apply pollen from tree to tree in theSichuan province.

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According to The Huffington Post, the farmers have had to transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers in order to successfully fertilize the orchards.

"On the one hand it’s a story about the human toll on the environment, while on the other it shows our ability to be more efficient in spite of it all," Frayer told the online publication."It is entirely possible than in our lifetime this practice could become the norm all over the world."

Numerous studies have shown global bee populations have been significantly declining. The lack of bees have some experts worried that the world’s food supply could soon be in jeopardy.

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