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Date: | Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:16:36 -0700 |
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> Alfalfa pollination <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination> is
somewhat problematic, however, because Western honey bee, the most
commonly used pollinator, are not suitable for this purpose
Unfortunately, this is not true.<
We have a very mixed plant community for our bees. This includes alfalfa.
This past year we had enough alfalfa blooming that I watched it very close.
As long as the bees had other forage blooming they would not use the
alfalfa. When I started collecting seed this fall the alfalfa was almost
totally devoid of seed. Most years I can collect several pounds of a very
tough drought resistant alfalfa seed. The big difference this year was
sainfoin. Its bloom period totally overlapped with the alfalfa. In one
spot on our place the two were side by side. The sainfoin was full of bees,
the alfalfa devoid of bees. In a large field setting honey bees can produce
a very good seed crop. In our 1/2 acre fields it would take some bloom
period management to get good seed set. I have seen this same sort of thing
in onion seed fields in Arizona. The seed fields are planted in the middle
of large tracts of non-blooming crops and the bee hives are placed heavily
around the onions. I have raised my own onion variety for more than 20
years. Now that I have such a diverse forage community for the bees I have
a difficult time getting enough onion seed to maintain my line.
Dave
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