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Re: World's Beeswax Contamination Increasing



In article <skid-0512961211120001@dial05.bway.net>, skid@bway.net writes:

>The only obvious thing to add is that honey bees in the US are not
native,
>but rather imported from Europe.  Perhaps if we encouraged the 'locals'
>more, we would not be having these mite problems.

    .......So are many of our food crops, which are closely linked to
honeybee pollination.

   This is a simplistic response, which contains a germ of truth.  We do
need to encourage alternative pollinators.  But, with present cultural
techniques, these are supplements, not replacements for honeybees.

   Only when we can culture alternative bee species and solve the problem
of pesticide misuse,  could we expect to use them in significant
pollination of commercial food crops.

   For example, bumblebees can be raised for pollination, and they are
increasingly used, but the cultural methods are closely guarded trade
secrets, and the colonies are quite expensive. So these are mostly used
where honeybees are not too effective, such as on tomatoes in greenhouse
settings.

  ..... And native bumblebees have become quite rare in this area, because
of cotton insecticide applications in violation of the label directions,
which require that they be applied when bees are not foraging, but are not
enforced.

   Recently North Carolina soaked the entire eastern half of the state
with malathion and resmethren for mosquito control after Hurricane Fran. 
No means were taken to protect wild pollinators at all. Massive damage was
done to these populations, because they were foraging in force, upon
goldenrod and aster at the times of applications.  All, or course, done by
our environmental "protectors," and in violation of clear label directions
not to apply while bees are foraging.

   Many of our commercial crops are raised in monoculture situations.  Our
largest commercially pollinated crop, almonds, requires honeybees brought
>from  all over the USA. Hundreds of thousands of hives are hauled to
California to do the job each spring.  There is no way in the foreseeable
future that another bee species could do this job. Other crops are similar
on a smaller scale.  In late April you could sit by Interstate 95 and
watch many tractor trailer loads of bees going north from Florida oranges
to northeastern apples. Afterwards many of these "apple" bees will go on
to blueberries and cranberries.

   Pollinator@aol.com    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554        (Dave & Jan's Pollination Service,  Pot o'Gold Honey Co.)


Jan's Sweetness and Light         Varietal Honeys and Gift Sets
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm

Pollinator@aol.com                                   Dave and Janice Green
Practical Pollination Home Page    
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html  
PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC    29554



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