How to pollinate a Vanilla Orchid! In the wild, Vanilla has one known natural pollinator, the Melipone Bee which is native to the Neotropics. Most Vanilla is grown on farms in tropical countries where Vanilla and the pollinator are not naturally found so the flowers must be pollinated by hand like you see one of our horticulturists doing here! To make this even more interesting, the flowers are only open for about two hours in the morning before they wilt and drop, therefore the human pollinator