Hello All,

The current trend with the environmental conservationists is to be ‘green’ 
and minimize OR lessen the impact as much as possible, ones contribution 
of things that may pose harm to the environment. 
This may necessitate conservation efforts and making beneficial 
contributions back to the environment for the purpose of reducing the 
harmful impact from ones own carbon emissions beyond that which 
conservation efforts are able to achieve by purchasing ‘carbon offsets‘. 

The idea behind carbon offsets is to reduce the net carbon emissions of 
individuals or organizations indirectly, through proxies who reduce their 
emissions and/or increase their absorption of greenhouse gases. A wide 
variety of offset actions are available; tree planting is the most 
common. “Due to their indirect nature, many types of offset are difficult 
to verify.” 

The trend, (because of its public relations appeal) is prompting 
celebrates such as Arnold Schwarzenegger to purchase carbon offsets (in 
Arnolds case in the form of planting of trees) to offset the carbon 
emissions caused by his private jet and Hummer. Some consumers are also 
trending towards buying ‘green products’ and swaying purchases towards 
companies that contribute to the environment thru carbon offset purchases. 

The question is:
 
Can a basic formula for “carbon offset” value be determined for a feral / 
domestic honeybee colony OR pollinators in general? 

We do know that:

‘Younger trees take up more carbon.’
Perhaps, pollinators in forested areas would contribute young tree growth 
by pollination of seeds which would grow into saplings.. 

CO2 intake increases after seed and fruit producing plants are 
pollinated. ‘In one study the CO2 intake of the bean and apple plant were 
examined; it was found that after pollination these plants had increased 
photosynthetic rates, and net CO2 assimilation rate also increased due to 
the embryo growth.’ 

‘Plants consume more CO2 when they are producing nectar.’ 

Carbon offsets perhaps might be:

1. Planting and preserving bee habitat areas 
2. Providing nest sites for bee pollinators.
3. Protecting the feral bees.
4. Supporting your local beekeeper, by buying their products.

Considering the wide area bees forage, perhaps a substantial carbon offset 
may exist in this area, and may have a potential monetary value from those 
wishing to purchase carbon offsets OR just wanting to help the environment.

Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA ‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
FeralBeeProject.com 
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/H...neybeeArticles

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