Stan said regarding almond photos: Between the trees, the land appears to be a desert.
Response:
I recall when I was in California in the 80's there was dandelion and other wild flowers in between almond tree rows. It was considered a competitive alternative source for bee visits. Growers where we did our research used to mow it to keep bees focused on almond. Not sure if mowing in between rows or use of herbicides is still practiced.
The almond crop system is an intense system. Growers would not like bees to hang around more than needed. We have seen most of bee hives build up their population in almonds. These hives will be ready for shaking to make packages after almond or move to the northern states to make honey.
What changed is that bees are moved for pollination of other crops one after the other. It is interesting to see that Lyle johnston moves his bees back to Colorado for re-building up after almond as mentioned in Rather's interview. Is this type of practice needed to give bees a chance to rehabilitate "Wellness and Health period"?
Agriculture crops are also changing and developing. Here in Alberta we used to have clover and alfalfa. Now we have more canola replacing alfalfa and clover.
Farmers moved to high cash crops. This type of change is reflected on bee forage in the Prairie too.
Who is welling to make the change: farmers or beekeepers to balance the. System?
Medhat
Alberta canada
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