Hi Ian

> Gavin, not quite following you,

Don't worry about it - I was just indulging in wild
speculation on a quiet Saturday morning and not making any
serious comment on the state of the beekeeping industry.  It
was interesting to think that bees were harvesting an energy
crop on such a scale that that it could conceivably make a
contribution to man's need for energy as well as food.
Technically, but not economically unless the cost of energy
changes enormously.

I'm not someone who thinks a lot about markets, but I do see
the points you are making.  It is far from clear-cut of
course, as you suggest.  Highly intensive agriculture can be
bad for pollinators, and it isn't clear that a random sample
of crops will yield more honey than the forest which they
replace.  But, if nectar-yielding crops form a significant
part of newly-intensive agriculture, honey production would
rise as you say.

Looking further ahead and returning to the biofuel question,
such crops will likely become an established part of
agriculture.  However, most observers seem to think that new
fermentation technologies will mean that crop and forestry
wastes can be converted into bioethanol too, changing the
economics fundamentally.  Harvested corn plus its straw may
become a very useful source of energy rather than the
marginal one it is now.  The grass Miscanthus looks as if it
would provide a more efficient energy source.  The oil
crops - which tend to be the energy crops which can also
provide nectar for bees - may decline in relative efficiency
and drop out of the biofuel market.  If that happens you can
stop worrying about biofuel crops distorting honey markets,
but that may be a decade or two away yet.

On your response to Peter's points on pollination of
canola/oilseed rape, you are probably right about the
prospects for pollination services.  Where pollination is
absolutely essential, such as in canola hybrid seed
production (as Allen well knows!), a fee can be negotiated
for the service.  But normal cropping doesn't have such a
need for bees.  In the UK and probably beyond, oilseed rape
farmers will welcome or encourage beekeepers but not be
prepared to top up any income they get from their honey
harvest.

best wishes

Gavin

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