>...i don't think you are correct (unless i read the study wrong). it
>isn't that the fields are "roundup ready", it's that they spray
>the "roundup ready" fields with....roundup, killing all the weeds
>and border plants.
I think that item is included in the list of factors I presented, so please
explain a little more which part was incorrect.
>...as someone said before here...there would have
>to be a very differant study to determine if any of this is due to
>being "roundup ready", or if it just has to do with actually using
>roundup.
Actually I said that, but my comments were not just restricted to Roundup
Ready(tm), but to the whole bunch of hybrids designed for use with weed
sprays, including Liberty Link, etc. I am not sure which hybrids were
examined in the study. Possibly a range. I would hope so.
>-- allen dick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>The paper describes a significant pollination deficit in Round-Up
>>Ready fields arising from fewer pollinators (~1.5 times greater
>>yield compared to a coventional field and ~6 times greater compared
>>to an organic field).
Actually, I did not say that, Adony did, and I quoted him, then added:
"Thanks for pointing this out. It is easy to miss, but the implications
for beekeepers struggling to make ends meet is enormous."
When I wrote that last sentence and left it at that, I wondered if I should
have spelled it out further, but assumed (there is that word again) that
beekeepers would get what Adony and I both saw, namely that there is that
there appears to be an exploitable pollination deficiency in the predominant
canola crops, and I will reiterate what Adony said here:
"What does a 'pollination deficit' mean in the context of this study?...
Overall GM seedpods had around 6 fewer seeds per seedpod when
open-pollinated compared to being supplementally pollinated..."
That is HUGE. Consider this: from
http://www.canola-council.org/soilmoisture.aspx, the normal number of pods
in an average pod can be assumed to be roughly -- for our purposes -- in the
range of 15-20. If this is true, then six additional seeds per pod amount
to a 30% to 40% increase in production! Or six less, an equally impressive
reduction.
If adding honey bees to a canola crop can increase yields this much, and our
reading of the study implies that, then just think of the pollination
opportunities right in your back yard! (mine, anyhow).
Can beekeepers get paid for canola pollination if this proves out? That was
what Adony was hinting at.
Of course, we have to consider if more seeds in a pod might be offset by
fewer mature pods, or smaller seed -- maybe the plants can only crank out so
much seed mass each? -- but that is fodder for another study. someone needs
to get on that right now!
Also, the relationship between beekeepers and neighbours is often delicate.
We depend on them for locations year around, and also tolerance for yellow
spots on cars and garden furniture, bees in feed troughs and stray swarms.
Can we ask them for money?
Further, although we have always known that bees can increase canola yields,
it is also suspected that bees can spread canola maladies, so beekeepers in
Alberta, at least, have shied away from promoting canola pollination except
for production of hybrid seed, where it is essential.
Now, if this study is correct, and bees can increase canola yields by this
much (hard to believe), then we are in a situation comparable to alfalfa
production years ago, before leafcutters were introduced, where the
beekeeper got half the alfalfa seed crop, just for pollinating.
Not to say that such a high return could be expected, but in these days of
low returns from honey, any additional income could make the difference
between surviving and having an auction. (I just received 5 auction fliers
in the mail -- the most I've seen in other years is 2)
Something to think about.
---------------------
I've been experimenting with posting from the web interface (the archives)
to BEE-L, and have learned that, although I can get a password on the web, I
am not actually subscribed to BEE-L and thus cannot post until without first
subscribing the same email address I use for the web login, using email.
In other words, if you are reading on the web and cannot post, then send an
email to [log in to unmask] saying only SUBSCRIBE BEE-L YOUR NAME
Send from the same email address as you log onto the archives, and of
course, use your own name in place of "YOUR NAME"
Then you should be able to post!
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* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm *
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