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Date: | Mon, 9 Jul 2007 13:24:25 -0400 |
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Paul and all,
In the interest of full disclosure let me just say that I love almonds
and I like that I can afford them. That said I have to tell you that when
I look at those pictures I see healthy almond trees but I can’t help
getting the feeling that I am looking at a system of agriculture that is so
at odds with nature that it runs a real risk of suffering the same kind of
calamity that seems to have befallen at least some migratory beekeepers.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish bad things on the almond industry or the
migratory beekeeping industry that helps support it.
My concern is with the long term sustainability of these kinds of
agricultural systems that have to be so tightly managed against the
tendencies of nature. When an organism such as a tree or a bee has to be
so isolated from what’s “out there” in nature that could do harm to them,
that you have to also sacrifice most of what wouldn’t harm them or even
some things that might benefit them, then you eliminate the need for that
organism to adapt and maintain natural defense mechanisms. This leaves
them open to being blind sided by attacks from unforeseen sources of stress
in nature.
If this is what is happening with honeybees, and it continues to become
harder to sustain them at the level required by almond farmers, either some
other way of pollinating almonds will be found or the economics of growing
almonds will make a correction which may not be favorable to orchardists.
To the degree that all I have said applies in any given situation, then
those who support an environment that is healthy for natural pollinators
should not be viewed as adversaries of what is in the long term interests
of beekeepers. While it is true that the immediate economic interests of
those who rely on highly industrialized agriculture for a living may be
adversely affected by a requirement to allow for more diversity of habitat,
in the long run the system as a whole will be more stable if such practices
can be mastered. At least that’s the theory. I think that’s the theory
that the proponents of natural pollinators go by.
At any rate as Bill has points out, the political reality is that
beekeepers find themselves needing some extra clout from natural
pollinators to get funding for the study of CCD and related problems.
Steve Noble
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