----- Original Message -----
From: "James Fischer" <[log in to unmask]>


> The basic flaw in the methodology is that no reasonable person is
> going to credit the entire value of ANY crop to pollination alone,
> even if pollination is an absolute requirement for that crop.
>
> Think about it - someone still has to plant, tend, harvest, pack,
> and ship the crop, someone has to provide the land, water, labor,
> and capital equipment.  Do these inputs have no value at all?
> Do the bees get all the credit for every penny of crop value?
> Of course not.

  OTOH, suppose my bees are responsible for pollination for 60% of the value
of a crop of cucumbers (pick the percentage of your choice!). The plain fact
is that if the farmer loses what my bees contribute, he simply will not grow
cucumbers. They have dropped well below the profit margin. And we've seen a
lot of farmers quit this crop, concentrating the cucumber production into
large farms where pollination is understood and better managed.

   So, while we cannot credit ALL the crop's value to the bees in your
sense, there is another sense in which that crop would not exist without the
bees.

   As you also point out, the loss of value is not simply the loss of
QUANTITY of the crop, but also of the QUALITY of the crop without the bees.

Dave Green   SC  USA
The Pollination Home Page (Now searchable): http://pollinator.com