James Fischer wrote:

> The oft-told fable of honey prices supporting pollination is laughable when
> compared to the actions of US beekeepers when honey prices are high.  The
> rational choice of some beekeepers was to keep their colonies out of
> pollination, since pollination both does not produce honey, and tends to
> stress the colonies so that they produce less honey than they would if they
> were not used for pollination.
>
> What is needed to support pollination is a decent pollination fee per hive.
> Muddying the waters with talk of honey prices only serves to insure that
> pollination fees will remain low, and beekeepers will continue to try to
> both pollinate and produce a honey crop, doing neither as well as either
> could be done alone, and suffering the higher costs inherent in trying to
> do both.

Amen. Blueberry pollination often results in hives coming off the fields
lighter than when they went on.

As the old point of contact for beekeeping in Maine, I still hear from
people who want their crops pollinated for free since " we will let the
beekeeper keep the honey".


Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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