Subject: Honey Bee Pollination Threat

From: [email-masked] (Richard Cline)
Date: 25 Nov 1996 16:04:35 GMT

I have seen a couple articles talking about the threat to out honey bee
population from the Varroa mite.  Assuming that no relief is discovered we
can expect that the honey bee population will be dramatically reduced. 
Commercial growers may be able import clean hives but individual
homeowners who rely on wild bees will suffer greatly.  

Are there alternatives to pollination by bees?  Is it possible that ants
can do a reasonable job of pollination?  I know that many plants in the
tropics rely on bats - but doubt that the local population of bats is
adequate.  What is the practicallity of using a paintbrush for manual
pollination?

Dick

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 10 Dec 1996 05:07:56 GMT

>adequate.  What is the practicallity of using a paintbrush for manual

    The varroa mite, so far is only a factor in the loss of wild bees, and
those of poor beekeepers who do not take care of them.  There are means of
controlling the mites.
 
    You may find this a good time to consider keeping bees yourself,
especially if you have been relying on wild honeybees.  Or you could
encourage a beekeeper to move some hives near you, by providing a site for
him.  As a last resort, bees can be rented from beekeepers who specialize
in pollination.  Most of my own pollination businees is to commercial
growers who obtain fifty or a hundred hives, or more. But each year I have
about a dozen orders from gardeners who want only a single hive.

   Compared to bees, ants are near worthless as pollinators, and bats will
only help on species that are adapted to bat pollination.  A tiny
percentage of pollination is done by hummingbirds, moths & butterflies,
and even flies.  But bees do the best job in most cases.

   A few solitary bees can be cultured, or at least encouraged by
providing nest sites.  Stop by our web page for more info.  Solitary bees
are usually specialists who may work only one or two species of fruit or
vegetable, so they will not really replace the generalist honeybee, only
supplement them.

   Paintbrushes, Q-tips, and fingers can replace bees, but it is tedious. 
Sometimes it is the only alternative. We have links on the web page to
hand pollination info.

[email-masked]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554        (Dave & Jan's Pollination Service,  Pot o'Gold Honey Co.)

Practical Pollination Home Page            Dave & Janice Green
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html

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

[email-masked]                                   Dave and Janice Green
Practical Pollination Home Page    
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html  
PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC    29554