thanks-enjoyed your almonds piece on bee-l.
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From: Excerpts from BEE-L <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, January 17, 1999 9:25 PM
Subject: Almonds
 
 
From:           Andy Nachbaur <[log in to unmask]>
To:             [log in to unmask]
 
This is a reworked post from the past, Jan 17, 1996 was the last time I
posted it, its long as I did it. Many of the early posts to this list were
long as we had yet to learn about writing in sound bytes so to speak. I am
re posting it as its that time of year when a majority of the US
commercial beekeeping industry is gathering their bees in California to
pollinate the almond bloom and glean much needed operating cash for the
coming season. It is hard to believe that over the years not much has
changed to spite attacks by several flavors of mites, killer bees, and
increased almond acreage, we still have a surplus of honeybees that are
not rented.
 
ALMONDS & BEEKEEPERS
 
The highest price is paid for the smallest almonds, because they can be
used in candy bars whole. Hershey Chocolate Company uses so many almonds
in their candy that they actually built a factory in the heart of the
almonds because the savings in freight alone would pay for the multi
million dollar factory over the years. The heavier the bloom set the
smaller the almonds. When this happens it takes several years for the
trees to recover.
 
In 1996 it is estimated that the beekeepers who supplied the bees for
almond pollination received an average of $32.00 dollars for each hive
provided for the almond bloom, that would add up to more then $25 million
dollars cash flow to the beekeepers, which they spent for sugar, fuel, and
in replacing bees for next years bloom. Only a few beekeepers if any at
all could support themselves off the almond pollination rentals alone, and
sadly most need the cash flow from the almonds to start the season in
hopes of that big honey crop later on.
 
About half the almonds produced are processed by one grower CO-OP called
the Almond Growers Exchange. They at one time in the early days handled
honey for beekeepers but failed in that effort and lost a lot of money for
the beekeepers. A few years ago they also had to be stopped from selling
one product they called "Almond Honnies" that listed artificial honey
(sugar) in the ingredient statement, but contained NO (O%) honey. They do
use a few drums of honey annually in a almond candy they manufacture for
the Christmas trade and for their own retail stores. In total little honey
is used in almond products in favor of cheep sugar and corn products. This
is one area that the beekeepers could significantly increase the
consumption of honey if the right pressure was applied like in the deal
you can't turn down. "USE MY HONEY, or get NO BEES!" There is no doubts in
my mind that this effort would made a new market for Chinese honey and
have zero effect on beekeepers who pollinate almonds.
 
The almonds are shook from the trees when dry and the hull or husk has
split from the nut in the fall or late summer. They then are picked up and
taken to a almond hulling plant that removes the dry outer hull (not
shell). The hull is used for cattle feed if not too contaminated with farm
chemicals. The nuts then can be dried if needed, and sent on for further
processing which includes the removing of the wood shell. They shell is
also used for fuel in products that are burned like BBQ briquets. The
almonds are then graded and start the long manufacturing process which is
mostly grading, sorting, and then slicing, dicing, blanching, grinding,
packaging, and for a few hard shell almonds, bleaching the shells for
those nice white shelled holiday almonds sold in the shell. The grower is
paid for the weight of the meat of the nuts, size, quality, and how much
damage has been done to the nut in handling to get it to the stage that it
can be graded. Damage can include everything from the natural splitting of
the nuts to insect damage.
 
Nuts are also sold according to the varieties, the ones that produce the
smaller nuts are worth more. In total it is a billion dollar industry with
the potential to return a billion dollars to the growers which it has yet
to do, but $800,000,000.00 (est.1998 farm crop 500 million pounds) is
nothing to turn up one's noise at and will buy a lot of farm chemicals and
fuel oil.
 
As for the value of the almond bloom to the bees themselves. Because it is
one of the early blooming plants in California, and for many beekeepers
today the only early spring pasture they know, it is of course considered
a good early spring build up food for bees. The truth is that until the
almond growers started paying beekeepers to move into the almonds most
beekeepers who lived adjacent to them would not go out of their way to
place bees near any almond orchard. They had learned from experience that
the almond bloom was pretty but not the ideal pasture for honeybees. Early
day beekeepers who lived in the almond orchards would say its value was in
the fact they could do their first bee inspection during the almond bloom
and little else. Bees will find a better build up in California from
boarder to boarder a month earlier or a month later from many different
spring wild flowers and are not bound to the almond trees for spring build
up.
 
In fact in later years it was determined that almond pollen or nectar
actually contains a natural sugar that will retard brood development
because it is actually toxic to bees. This is the principal reason almond
pollen piles up in the brood chamber during the almond bloom, (a sure sign
to beekeepers it is a good pollen source, but actually it is not, and only
because it is the only source is it considered good at all.) Queen
breeders produce fewer cells during the almond bloom when almond pollen
and nectar are their only sources.
 
Almond pollen and or nectar does have a unknown attractor in the
pollen/nectar that does attract the bees away for other flowers for a few
hours each day, the short time it takes the bees to collect all the pollen
and nectar from almond flowers only to return to other wild flowers if
available. Sadly the farmers have taken to seeing bees on other flowers as
a sign they are not working their almonds and for years have spent much
time in preventing other flowers blooming during the almond bloom with
chemicals and tractors. Much attention also has been paid to the dispersal
of bees in the almonds, mostly because of grower concerns that they are
providing bees for their neighbors. Several times research has been
carried out to determine how the bees should be placed in the almonds. The
placement in small groups as practiced today does not increase the almond
yields at all and only makes more work for the beekeeper. Some beekeepers
have found that to charge more for smaller groups of bees cures this
problem but few growers allow truck loads in one spot which is all that is
has been needed from day one as the bees disperse like water poured from a
jug on a table top. The more water pored the farther the dispersal.
 
No orchard has ever been found in California that bees could not be found
during the bloom, yet many orchards do not have beehives in them. No
factual information other then individual trees caged to keep bees out can
be cited to show bees or bees in certain numbers are needed for almond
pollination and this type of information has some real problems due to the
influence of the cage on a tree that normally grows without that benefit.
 
Almonds are cross pollinated between different parent trees grown in
alternating rows. The bees must move the heavy pollen from the male parts
of one verity to the female parts of another. Almond pollen is very heavy
and is not dispersed by the wind. The flowers shed pollen in the late
afternoon and are attractive to bees then and in the mornings.
 
The bee collected almond pollen is very strange, and brakes down even when
frozen. It will ferment very fast, and is bitter to the taste. The total
amount that can be trapped from an acre of almonds is not that great even
with the large numbers of blooms and trees per acre. They honey is also
bitter and seldom gathered in surplus so as to be extracted by beekeepers.
The best almond location are those that are adjacent to other flowers,
other fruit crops, and along rivers lined with wild trees or in areas that
have natural ground covers of mustard or other flowers. In good years the
bees will swarm in the almonds without beekeeper care. NOT a problem the
last few years in California.
 
Almonds are a strange crop in that the market is dependent on world trade.
Unlike honey the world price has always been high enough to support the
industry in the US with the market off shore. The financial problems in
Asia have had a detrimental effect and almond exports are down 23% and
farm prices are down 15%..  All selling of almonds is regulated by law by
a Almond Board that determines how much of the crop will be sold to whom
for what uses and appears to be working to the growers advantage but not
to the consumers as almonds are still a luxury food item for the average
person in the US not unlike honey.
 
Chow, the OLd Drone
http://beenet.com
 
(c)Permission is given to copy this document
in any form, or to print for any use.
 
(w)OPINIONS are not necessarily facts. USE  AT OWN RISK!
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