In a message dated 96-05-20 09:19:56 EDT, you write:
 
>Subj:  Re: Lack Of Honey Bees
 
>From:  [log in to unmask] (Laura Downey)
>
>As of late, there has been much discussion about the lack of honey
>bees.  We are all aware of the reasons - mites, disease, the hard winter,
>etc.
>
>Prior to the Europeans coming to the New World and bringing honey bees
>along, what was responsible for pollination?  Were there some kind of
>wild bees here before the Europeans' arrival?
>
    There are many species of solitary bees that are native to the new world,
and these were effective pollinators.  There were also bumble bees, which are
highly effective pollinators, still used on crops where the nectiaries are
too deep for honeybees to reach.  Some solitary bees did not do well in
competition with honey bees, and there are those who think the loss of honey
bees will stimulate a resurgeance of the wild species.  I'm skeptical, unless
more is done to encourage and protect them.
 
   There are some things to remember.  One is that many of our major crops
are not native either.  They also came from the old world, and have had a
long association with honey bees.
 
   The second is that farming, prior to the import of honeybees, was on a
very small scale, more like we would consider gardening today.
 
   Even in my lifetime, the pollination picture has greatly changed.  Grandpa
was a big grower, if he had three acres of watermelon, or apples.  He
probably had a dozen wild honeybee trees in the surrounding woods, and a half
dozen gums on the farm.  His neighbors probably kept bees, too.  So he may
well have had 5-10 hives PER ACRE.
 
   Today the farmer may plant 100 acres of watermelon (and orchards are
equivalent)
and may not have a single hive within reach.  If he puts in bees, he probably
still will not use nearly as many as Grandpa had; the best farmers might put
in a hive per acre.  We can look at the produce and tell easily, if he had
enough to do the job.
 
   The third point is the most critical -- pesticide misuse.  Pesticide
labels protect foraging bees ---- if they are enforced -- which I can't ever
seem to get around here, even for honeybees.   Pesticide labels also protect
wild bees, but I know of NO AREA that does it.
 
    Pesticide applicators assume there are no bees and ignore the label
directions, unless, there is conflict with a beekeeper.  If there is, they
STILL ignore the label directions, and tell the beekeeper he has to
move/protect the bees.  Many states have whole systems of notification of
beekeepers, all set up to enable the applicators to circumvent compliance
with the label directions.
 
   During cotton bloom, I could have twenty different applicators, as much as
a hundred fifty miles apart, calling to tell me they are going to spray
tomorrow, and I have to "protect" the bees.  Even If I could do that (I
can't),  I sure couldn't do anything for the wild bees.
 
   We beekeepers have got to stand up and get enforcement of pesticide label
directions, because use in violation of these directions is MISuse.  Whatever
we do to help protect honeybees will also tend to protect wild bees as well.
 Applicators MUST monitor the bee situation in the application area, and
comply with the directions of the specific pesticide.
 
   There used to be many wild species in this area of South Carolina, but I
can tell you, by many hours of looking for foraging bees, that the only
survivors are those whose life cycle does not intersect with cotton bloom.
  Carpenter bees are still plentiful; they go dormant prior to cotton bloom.
 And there are a few solitary bees left on fall goldenrod and asters.
 
   Ten years ago, I could walk a cotton field and see a dozen different bee
species and perhaps a couple thousand individuals, just walking the length of
the row.  Today, it is unusual, if I see one bumblebee. NOTHING ELSE will be
visiting.  It is so barren it scares me.
 
   There are not ten per cent of the bumblebees around here that there were
ten years ago.  It is rare to find a nest.
 
   I'd like to get some more practice at locating wild bees from the evidence
of pollination. Wild plum, blackberries, and many other wild plants are
dependent upon bees.  Right around my bee yards, these are heavily loaded,
most years, while those in areas where I know there are not honeybees, are
barren.  One could likely locate pockets where there are either wild
honeybees, bumble bees, or high concentrations of solitary bees, by the yield
on some of the wild plants.  I just don't have the time to do serious study.
 I just observe as much as possible, and believe I do see some things a lot
of people miss.  This year late freezes messed up all the early fruits, so
such studies won't be possible now until next year anyway.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554
 
Practical Pollination Home Page            Dave & Janice Green
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