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Date: | Tue, 20 Jun 1995 09:00:00 -0700 |
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Doug,
We have a sizable cranberry industry in the Fraser Valley (British Columbia)
where quite a bit of research and resources have been committed over the
years to examine the issue of pollination. As many know, Mark Winston of
SFU (with Keith Slessor) identified and developed the QMP product to enhance
honeybee pollination in cranberry.
Kenna MacKenzie's work on the east coast is valuable, and there is no doubt
that bumblebees are much better pollinators of bog plants, including
cranberry and blueberry. You are quite correct that the bumbles have
evolved over millions of years in bog environments and are the most
effective pollinators. But only so as individual pollinator.
In monocultural settings as cranberry (and blueberry) is grown today, it is
the shortage in numbers of pollinating insects that is the limiting
factor. Bumblebee nests may be comprised of a few dozen individuals while a
cranberry field has millions of flowers. Considering the current prices for
commercially available bumble bee nests, I question the economics of their
use in a field setting. (Greenhouses is a different matter). Perhaps,
simple enhancement of nesting habitat would be more cost-effective.
Paul van Westendorp [log in to unmask]
Provincial Apiarist
British Columbia
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