As I would understand it, a lot of why honeybees have to be brought in is that you have these large-scale examples of monoculture where bees wouldn't be able to

As I would understand it, a lot of why honeybees have to be brought in is that you have these large-scale examples of monoculture where bees wouldn't be able to find food outside of that one time of year the crop is flowering. Something similar is actually mentioned in the article: When the Adees arrived in Bakersfield in 1990, there were 411,000 acres of farmland planted with almond trees, according to the Agriculture Department. Since then, the number of acres of almond trees has more than doubled, and growers have adopted techniques that are less bee-friendly. Growers previously flooded their orchards with warm water in the early spring to prevent frost from killing the buds. The water gave rise to grasses and weeds like dandelions and wild vetch between the rows of trees, giving the bees a source of pollen before the buds burst into bloom. But now, growers aim to conserve water, and because weeds and grasses can trap cool air that can lead to frost, most almond ranchers spray herbicides to keep the rows between their trees free of unwanted growth. So it's not just the monoculture aspect (e.g. even if you have a lot of trees, not all soil is covered with tree and there's a ton of room left for other species), but also that the farmers actively destroy what's no part of their monoculture.