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"Right. So this is the part I don't get. If there already are millions of
acres of blueberries, then there almost must be pollinators in equally large
numbers. Why are folks convince that there is a pollinator deficit that must
be remedied with non-native bees?"
Well there aren't really millions of acres of blueberry- rather there are
millions of acres of forest with blueberry interspersed. Once the forest is
removed and the top few inches of ground tilled the blueberry pretty much
takes over but the habitat for many pollinating insects has been destroyed,
particularily for those who depend on more than just the blueberry for
survival. Many argue that lowbush blueberry should be managed differently to
maintain habitat for pollinating insects but so far this is not being done.
The following article has pretty much convinced people of the usefullness of
honeybees in pollinating this crop : P Aras, D Oliveira, L Savoie (1996)
Effect of a Honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) gradient on the pollination and
yield of lowbush blueberry, Apiculture and Social Insects (1996),Volume: 89,
Issue: 5, Pages: 1080-1083.
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