Everyone should read this 10k word monograph. Its not a simple question,
but Randy has put together the best summary that I've seen. Both of us
predicted these problems last spring, and he's clearly told the story and
reveals how we both knew this was going to happen. He went the extra mile and
did the hard work of running down records and stats to illustrate and
document his points.
Last week I had almost reached my limit with the media and was trying to
convince myself to tackle this story. Thanks to Randy, I can focus on
other things that I need to write up and publish.
Overall, Randy is spot on with his analysis.
I also think, as many have indicated, that a lack of good quality bee
forage is a major part of the current problem. Having sampled the corn belt,
its clearly a green desert. And part of what I need to write up is how
frequently we find that bees just aren't attracted to many of our current
crop cultivars - using them only as a last resort to stave off starvation.
And if they do use these crops, the nutritional quality in terms of
protein, etc. is likely to be poor.
Frankly, its time to stop chasing problems and shift to programs that
promote bee wellness. We need to increase the amount of safe, attractive,
diverse, high quality bee forage, encourage programs that open up public lands
to bees, reward farmers for planting bee friendly crops, and convince
everyone to plant pollinator friendly plants along roads, in parks, back yards,
golf courses, landscaping, etc. --- both honey bees and the native
pollinators would benefit. Maybe, more of our beekeepers could actually make a
living on honey crops; rather than depending on pollination rentals to
make ends meet.
Something is wrong with a system that requires bees from New York and
Florida to pollinate crops in California. Nothing wrong with pollination, but
a viable industry should be able to deal with local needs on a local
basis. And, we might slow down the sharing of infectious diseases and transfer
of pests from one coast to the other.
Jerry
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