Fruitless Fall

In Sichuan, China, thousands of laborers cling to the branches of blooming pear trees, pulling themselves carefully from limb to limb. They dip "pollination sticks" - bamboo twigs with chicken feathers and cigarette filters attached - into plastic bottles of pollen that hang in the trees, then touch the sticks to every blossom, hand-pollinating billions of flowers. The pollen comes from anthers that are plucked from flowers about to bloom, then dried in cardboard boxes under bare lightbulbs or on electric blankets until the pollen grains are released. Though it is spring and the hillsides are a lacework of white blossoms, no bees buzz through the orchards. The farmers say they haven't seen any insects in years, since pear orchards were planted on every hillside and massive spraying of insecticides began. Migratory beekeepers won't bring their bees anywhere near the area. So the "human bees" must go to work. Women - and children, when they're not at school - are best at reaching the thin upper branches.

From Fruitless Fall by Rowan Jacobsen p.201 

Now that's full employment!