In a message dated 11/30/98 8:14:31 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
 
> Of
>  course,  even though honey bees are "Jills" of all trades, they don't visit
certain
>  nectarless flowers (e.g. tomato blossoms) for which, we thankfully have
>  bumblebees.
 
    Nice post, Steve.  As one who got the final push to get beehives the year
my tomato blossoms were covered with honeybees, and we got a bumper crop of
early 'maters, I'd have to qualify a bit here.  Personally, it seems that
honeybees will ignore tomatoes for five years, and the sixth year, be all over
them. Like Andy, I've had pesticide damage from tomato applications, so I know
they are working the blossoms.
 
    I guess what I'd say is that for consistant pollination, go with
bumblebees, but honeybees can't hurt, and some years will add a lot. I'm sure
the process for "deciding" what blossoms honeybees forage is rather complex,
and might not even be decipherable by humans.
 
>The reporter asked me bluntly whether pollination would
>  be eliminated if all the honey bees were somehow (obviously this is
>  impossible and ill-advised) removed from the Tucson city limits. I told
>  him no, you wouldn't stop all the pollination, because of the rich
>  bee biodiversity in this area. He took it from there and made some
>  wrong-headed statements.
 
    As one who has dealth often with the media, I could just see this
happening. Reporters, even print reporters seem to think in terms of "sound
bytes."
 
    There is one thing that I do want to point out. I am not accusing you at
all here, but there is an element of the scientific/academic community that
loves to bash honeybees. This probably is the source of Andy's intense
feeling. I've written some letters myself on the subject, where I've seen it
happen, and it probably is a lot more common than what I see.
 
    Beekeepers are the natural constituancy for concern for all our bee
populations, and those who bash honeybees are risking alienating their
constituancy. Commercial beekeepers, especially those who migrate, are among
the hardest working people on earth, and they constantly put up with folks who
haven't the slightest idea how important they are in the food chain. Financial
rewards are not even close to being in league with the true value of their
work. Being harrassed by those who have no understanding of this, is bad
enough. But then when a salaried and perked gummit employee starts actually
denying your value, it really gets your dander up.
 
    I watch all pollinating bees, in an effort to give a professional job to
my pollination clients.  Ten years ago, there was a much larger population of
solitary bees, than now. This spring we did pollination in a large peach
orchard. Prior to bringing in the hives, there were almost no bees at all,
just occasional carpenter bees. The small, solitary bees that once were the
primary pollinators were almost entirely absent. Once we had the hives in, the
bee foragers were 99.999% honeybees. I told the grower he would be wise to
reintroduce solitary bees, as they will work a few degrees colder than
honeybees.
 
    Why are they missing?  In my estimation it is a mix of pesticide misuse
(jumping the gun on petalfall sprays, blooming orchard floor plants), fire
ants (many solitary bees are ground-nesting, and especially vulnerable) and
loss of cover (clear cut logging).
 
    Anyone who in interested in pollination should spend some time in the
cotton growing regions of the southeast. Genetically engineered cotton has
helped a bit in the last couple years, but I understand that growers are not
happy with yields, so this may be going back out. At any rate, the rich bee
diversity that you have in the Tucson area, can no longer be found here.
Whether they could recover their previous populations is the question.
 
>  Let's say a prayer of thanks just past Thanksgiving and think of what
>  we owe pollinating animals (about 200,000 species the world over,
>  including foremost- BEES, but also bats, birds, butterflies, moths, flies,
>  beetles and wasps).
 
Amen!
 
>  1) One third of our diets (fruits, vegetables, seeds) comes from the
>     pollinating activities of bees and other pollinators, but mostly
>     bee-pollinated plants.
>
>  2) Cotton, flax and other textiles. Cotton bolls start out as cotton
>     flowers that are visited and pollinated by bees.
 
>  3) Beverages- many juices and other beverages from fruits that began
>     as bee-pollinated flowers.
>
>  4) Medicines/dyes- Again, same story. Many of these naturally occuring
>     chemicals come from fruits and seeds that bees visited in their
>     tireless search for pollen and nectar and moved the pollen around.
>  I have been a firm supporter of organic and sustainable agriculture
>  and  the dangers of insecticides for honey bees and all bees. I especially
>   disliked being called a "dusty."
 
 
>  For these, and many other reasons, the proudest accomplishment of my
>  career to date, has been the far-reaching. effects of "The Forgotten
>  Pollinators Campaign" which I co-founded with Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan
>  at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. Our work goes on.
>  In fact, on January 15, 1999 in Washington, D.C. we will be present a
>  a Pollinator Breakfast and Roundtable hosted by Secretary of the
>  Interior Bruce Babbitt. Many government leaders and representatives
> of NGO's and the media will be there. I look forward to sharing the
>  message of "saving/conserving all pollinators" with them.
 
   Good luck. I hope you get a real hearing. Pesticide misuse is still our
biggest bee problem, whether you consider the direct effects on the bees, or
the driving of beekeepers bankrupt.
 
   Dr Sanford has an excellent article on "Pollination, the Forgotton
Agricultural Input,"
which I'm sure you are aware of, but I mention for the list. It's available at
the APIS page.
 
>  Finally, for myself, and the other scientists at the Carl Hayden Bee
>  Research Center, are VERY grateful indeed for the support of the
>  beekeeping industry. Without such support, I wouldn't have a job, nor much
food
>on the table. In fact, the industry was instrumental in keeping our doors
>open in October, 1996. We have several beekeepers on our Liaison
>committee and we value their inupt/review of our publically-funded research
>every year when they visit us for two days. We value their input and
friendship.
 
 
>P.S. You might enjoy following these links
>Visit G.E.A.R.S. at http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/
>Steve's homepage
>http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/home/buchmann/index.html
 
   Great pics!
 
>Forgotten Pollinators: http://www.desert.net/museum/fp/
 
 
 
[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
The Pollination Home Page:    http://www.pollinator.com
 
Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm