Editing Vanilla (section)

===Pollination===
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Flowering normally occurs every spring, and without pollination, the blossom wilts and falls, and no vanilla bean can grow. In the wild in the [[New World]], the only organisms ever observed to carry ''Vanilla'' pollen are orchid bees in the genus ''[[Eulaema]]'', though direct evidence documenting seed set is lacking.<ref name="Lubinsky-2006" /> Claims that pollination is achieved by stingless bees of the genus ''[[Melipona]]'' or [[hummingbird]]s have never been substantiated, though they do visit the flowers.<ref name="Lubinsky-2006" /> Even within the range of orchid bees, wild vanilla orchids have only a 1% chance of successful pollination. As a result, all vanilla grown today is pollinated by hand. Each flower must be hand-pollinated within 12 hours of opening. A small splinter of wood or a grass stem is used to lift the [[rostellum]] or move the flap upward, so the overhanging anther can be pressed against the stigma and self-pollinate the vine. Generally, one flower per [[raceme]] opens per day, so the raceme may be in flower for over 20 days. A healthy vine should produce about 50 to 100 beans per year, but growers are careful to pollinate only five or six flowers from the 20 on each raceme. The first flowers that open in each raceme are usually the only ones that are pollinated, so the resulting beans are similar in age and mature together. This agronomic practice facilitates harvest and increases bean quality, as over-pollination results in diseases and inferior bean quality.<ref name="Davis-1983" /> The fruits require five to six weeks to develop, but around six months to mature. A vine remains productive between 12 and 14 years.