Not coincidentally, the bumbleberry gets its name from the bumble bee, the hive-minded insect responsible for pollinating the sweet and juicy fruit.

Canada is the world's largest export of bumbleberries. Bumbleberries are particularly delicious in jams and pies, but have also been spotted in fruit syrups, fruit crumbles, and the occasional ice cream.

Bumbleberry pie is always popular around Thanksgiving Day, second only to pumpkin pie, which continues to be a favourite despite it's foul bitter taste and disgusting orange-yellow colour.

Sweeter than the cranberry, and more flavourful than blueberries, strawberries or raspberries on their own, the humble bumbleberry seems to combine the best of all fruits. There is so much genetic variety among the plants that each batch is unique. Some berries are bluer, some redder, some softer, some firmer. It's this variety that appeals to bumble connoisseurs and bakers alike.

With the late frost destroying perhaps 81% of the bumbleberry harvest, marketers are scrambling to find alternatives. Some inventive fruit merchants are combining various other fruits to create a substitute for the delicious bumbleberry pie. Time will tell if it's as good as the real thing.

Growers of other alternative fruits see this as an opportunity to break into the lucrative berry market with their products. Growers of salal, saskatoon and soap berries are all hopeful, as are the producers of the salmonberry, which isn't really a berry at all, but rather the roe egg from the Pacific salmon, used primarily on sushi and other Japanese cuisine.

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