Hi Paul and All

First of all, I should declare that I'm a hobby beekeeper and I live far, far away from almonds, Capitol Hill, orange groves, Xerces HQ, and, it seems, CCD.  (This year we seem to have Queen Mating Disorder over here instead, but that's another story)  I'm a scientist too, and have dabbled in pollination biology on occasion.

Paul said:
> Further, the STATED GOAL of these advocates of native pollinators
> is to COMPETE with beekeepers: http://www.xerces.org/Pollinator_Insect_Conservation/pollinator_week_action.html

Well, I read the link you sent.  It seems to me to be a reasonable statement on pollinators in the US and pretty much agrees with what Matthew Sheperd wrote in his reply earlier.  It is true that honeybees are poor pollinators of some crops.  It is true that, collectively, native pollinators are more versatile than honeybees.  It is also true that the honeybee is the singlemost important pollinator in the US.  To say that it is the 'STATED GOAL' to 'COMPETE' with honeybees is far from the mark.

For what its worth, over on this side of the pond (and, I guess, most of the time on yours) beekeepers think like conservationists.  As Randy said, they see diverse habitats and healthy environments as beneficial for honeybees *and* for native pollinators.  My bees are currently in my garden in a small hamlet in an arable farming area in E Scotland.  It is clear to me that they both suffer and benefit from the monoculture around us.  One big surge of OSR (or Canola) nectar and pollen and a sudden burst of brood raising and honey making in May, then for the rest of season - until I take them to the hills - they scrape a living from some bramble (blackberry), dandelion and a few other plants in the hedgerows in our comparatively sympathetically managed landscape.  Without doubt they would suffer in a more intense system and thrive better with access to more natural and semi-natural flora.  That fact must be obvious to the great majority of beekeepers on here.  I propose to
 move them to a new site with this in mind.  The ideal position would have access to the main honey crops *and* sufficient semi-natural forage to give them a decent living for the rest of the season.  The ecological deserts which Paul seems to wish to promote seem sterile by comparison.

My take on native pollinators - here or in the US - doesn't have at its centre the economic argument used by Xerces and by others.  It is that our generation has been bequeathed an environment with a wonderful diversity of life.  We are now, apparently, in what is regarded as the 7th mass extinction event in the history of our planet.  Some believe that within the time span of a mere century we will lose 50% of all species on Earth, more if we don't get a grip on global warming.  To me, preserving diversity on this planet is the big issue rather than short-term economic ones.  We need to think long-term and adopt a responsible attitude to conserving natural habitat, semi-natural habitat around and within farmland, and yes, the native pollinators and other critters that live there.

best wishes to all

Gavin

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