Honey bees are known to naturally vector microbial organisms among flower during pollination visits. When operating out of hives fitted with special dispensers, honey and bumble bees have been used to efficiently vector plant pathogen antagonists and insect entomopathogens to flowers as part of some pest management systems. In sunflower, honey bees can benefit the crop by transferring an entomopathogen of the banded sunflower moth to sunflower heads and by directly increasing seed set, yield, and oil percentage. However, in sunflower and other field crops, insect management is typically equated with the use of insecticides to control pest insects and the value of pollinators is overlooked. Even appropriately used insecticides may cause inadvertent yield reduction in crops such as sunflower by reducing pollinator populations or effectiveness. In many cropping systems, the gain from pollinator services should be weighed against the potential reduction in that gain following a pest management intervention. In some cases, the net gain from pollination may exceed the loss from pests and negate the need for pest management. In other cases, bees can be an active component of pest management by vectoring entomopathogens and other microbial antagonists to help mange pest insects and plant pathogens. Pollinators should be viewed as partners in an overall yield management strategy.