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Date: | Sat, 29 Jul 2006 11:57:48 -0400 |
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James Fischer wrote: and wrote and wrote :)
Wow. I am not in the position to defend the paper quoted, but I do have
some observations from real life here in Maine. Blueberry pollination
has become big business and the reason is increased yields with
additional bees. The increases have not been marginal. The variable that
caused the increase was honeybees. There is a point where more bees do
yield a marginal increase, but I do not know what that is with blueberries.
Also, in 1985 when the USDA study was written, the US was free of both
mites, or at least we though we were free of tracheal, even though it
may have been around. So there were plenty of feral honeybees as well as
non-commercial beekeeper's bees to do the pollinating. We have seen this
with squash in Maine. After beekeepers quit because of Tracheal and then
Varroa, pumpkin farmers and apple growers wanted bees for pollination.
There was a observable drop in production.
I started keeping bees for pollination of my apples and veggies. I also
noticed an increase in production after I started. (about $9.6 billion).
I tend to think that it is impossible to quantify the number of billions
of dollars of farm products that pollination produces, since first you
have to remove all honeybees from agriculture, measure, and then put
them back in. That is impossible. How do you quantify the add on that my
bees deliver by being there to pollinate, for free, all the gardens for
two or more miles around me?
As far as the USDA having the final say, I have seen studies that
promote the value of solitary bees over honey bees that were junk
science. They were written by proponents of solitary bees and the
studies were poorly done (honeybees were actually doing some, if not
most of the pollinating). So we get down to what you want to say is
definitive and what you do not. And since my bees have added $9.6
billion, we can start with that as a baseline.
Bill Truesdell and his billion dollar bees
Bath, Maine
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---
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