I was last in France 3 years ago leading a group of Romanian beekeepers ( I
was working with on a beekeeping development project) on a tour of
beekeeping  in the south of France.  We visited a lot of certified organic
beekeepers and we were being led part of the time by a guide from EcoCert
France organic certification agency).  One comment I heard a lot was the
heavy use of herbicides had limited forage from weed species.  My personal
observation was the farms and home gardens and city landscapes were heavily
managed, pruned, and sprayed, and there were in-fact few weeds to be seen.
We were there in late spring and the wheat was beginning to flower.  The
French are famous for intensive wheat farming and true to form most wheat
was dark green, swept with tram lines for spraying and fertilizer
application, and weed-free.  I recall that some of the beekeepers we visited
in remote mountain regions seemed to be doing well but the ones in the
agricultural regions did not look too prosperous.  Forgive the sweeping
generalizations, just a traveler's impressions.

 

Bill

Louisburg, NC


             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm