**5. Conclusions**

The pollination of the apple orchards in Val di Non has peculiar characteristics that make it a case of study: the orography and landscape structure could favor the integration between "natural" pollination and "managed pollination"; pollination of apple orchards is managed in a cooperative manner and not by each farmer; and the pollination of the apple tree is also supported by the honey bee colonies managed by small local beekeepers not contractually involved in the pollination service.

Among the economic and apidological aspects covered by the survey on beekeepers who operate the apple pollination service in Val di Non, two deserve to be highlighted for their immediate operational implications:


Regarding the future of apple orchard pollination in Val di Non (and not only), it is to be hoped that the value of unmanaged pollinators will be enhanced by means of an integrated crop pollination strategy [40] that includes the protection of plant biodiversity also in agroecosystems and the protection of sensitive sites in view of the reproduction of wild pollinators.
