Most farmers do not want to alfalfa to bloom.  Allowing it to bloom reduces nutritional density as a feed stock.  We let ours bloom as does our neighbor because our forage crop is a secondary crop and we are always behind where we want to be.  So we get three to four blooms in a year.  Good for us and good for the bees.  We also do not sell our hay but use it in our own stables (5000 bales a year give or take).  It would have far less value if we tried to sell it because of the poor protein content of the alfalfa (from allowing it to bloom).

I would be far more worried about what was being sprayed on the crop you were putting your bees on than I would if it was GMO crop.  Alfalfa tends to be sprayed for what I call weevils (Alfalfa Weevils - Hypera postica Gyllenhal), especially seed crops.  Never saw the point in spraying the crop.  We simply cut it early (off possible) if we see a healthy crop of them emerge (small pin holes and yellow of exterior leaves as a result of starvation from damage) or have less quality in the first alfalfa harvest (weevils tend to have their cycle interrupted during a harvest and never seem to repopulate for the 2nd and 3rd cuttings).

I do agree that when you get out of the river valley and the farms run more straight with less fencing and breaks you see a whole lot of open ground that has a single crop on it.  Loss of diversity HAS to be playing a role in this, but I do not see RR alfalfa as being a game changer at all, except for the organic folks.

There seems to be a large disconnect between some beekeepers on this list and the crops their bees may be foraging on which concerns me.  As a farmer and a beekeeper I can tell you that you need to know these things.

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106
http://www.carriagehousefarmllc.com
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