> Right, but the prediction was not for almonds, it was for the pollination of
> all US crops. Almonds is a special case, and not a national security issue.

Pete, you may have missed my point.  All other crops benefit from the
surfeit of hives following almond pollination.  After varroa arrived
in Calif, in many areas there were not enough native pollinators to
pollinate crops such as cucurbits.

>while I submit the pollination needs for US crops has been vastly overestimated.

Likely so.  But again I ask, most studies find benefit in yield with
additional bee pollination, so what is *optimal* pollination?

I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, Pete, for the sake of discussion.

Randy Oliver

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