Pollination is what happens when pollen — that fine yellow powder inside a flower — gets to the part of a flower that can use it, so the plant can make seeds and, often, fruit. Bees do a lot of this work: they brush against one flower, then carry the powder to the next. Wind does it too, and so do butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, even some bats. Without pollination, apple trees, tomatoes, and many other plants cannot make the fruit we eat. Farmers sometimes do it by hand with a little brush when there are not enough insects. The word names the act, not the powder itself. You will hear it in science class, gardening, and news about bees dying. People almost never use it for anything except plants.