Almond Pollinator Gauntlet
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February 14, 2001 (AP)
FARM SCENE: Beekeepers bitter over ant inspections at state borders
KILEY RUSSELL, Associated Press Writer


   (02-14) 00:46 EST FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Add commercial beekeepers and
California almond growers to the list of victims stung by the red imported
fire ant.
   With the state's almond bloom in full swing, farmers are desperate to
deliver the bee colonies to their orchards, but inspectors in California
and Arizona have been stopping truckloads of beehives said to be infested
with the dreaded fire ant.
   Without the bees to pollinate this year's bloom, the trees won't produce
any nuts.
   "I'm sleepless over this. Water problems, power problems and now this,"
said Cort Blackburn, who grows 2,700 acres of almonds in arid Western
Fresno County.
   Blackburn and dozens of sleep-deprived farmers like him are worrying over
the hours and days that pass as thousands of hives are held up or turned
away from California and Arizona. Agricultural inspectors in both states
have been finding the aggressive, stinging red ants stowed away on
shipments from the Southeastern United States and Texas -- areas that
account for about a quarter of the bee deliveries to Central Valley farms.
   "My farm needs 4,000 hives and I've only got 1,500. I need them today,"
Blackburn said.
   If the delays continue at the Southwest border crossings for much longer,
growers say they won't have enough bee colonies to produce what's
otherwise expected to be a large almond crop. Last year's 900 million
pound harvest came in at a record $500 million. The state's closest
competitor, Spain, grew about 175 million pounds.
   California farmers use about 1 million bee colonies to pollinate 500,000
acres of almond trees, and half of those colonies are imported from other
states. Since just before the almond bloom began in January, about 35
truckloads carrying roughly 20,000 hives have been held up by inspectors
in either Arizona or California -- and agricultural officials say eight
trucks turned back to Texas, Mississippi or Louisiana.
   One truck made it through both states to an orchard in Stanislaus County,
where local inspectors found fire ants and ordered the entire shipment
burned.
   But farmers and beekeepers say the delays, more than the rejected loads,
have them worried. Each hour a shipment is delayed, the chances of hot
temperatures killing off thousands of bees grows. Also, growers have just
a few weeks of bloom to get the bees into orchards and some beekeepers,
wary of border hassles, are sending their insects to other states or
simply refusing to ship them at all -- although each truckload rents for
an average of about $25,000 a season.
   "It's costing (beekeepers) a bundle and leaving California almond growers
without any bees. It's a major imbroglio," said Kern County bee broker Joe
Trainer.
   During the last two years, agricultural officials in both states have
stepped up their efforts to keep the red fire ant out. California went so
far as to pay Arizona $350,000 to expand the inspection program on its
Eastern border and to buy high-tech imaging equipment and microscopes,
said Arizona Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Jill Davis.
   Arizona, which is free of the ants, set itself up as a regional buffer
zone, protecting its Western neighbor from further invasions, Davis said.
   ^------=
   On the Net:
   Arizona Agriculture Department: http://agriculture.state.az.us/
   California Agriculture Department: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/


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Copyright 2001 AP