On 6/30/2011 2:49 PM, allen wrote:
>> I understand that in alberta canola pollination is a
>> paid bussiness. I understand the price for that service is around us$100 per
>> hive. My argentinian collegue says that in saskatchewan it is not paid.
>
As I have received 2 emails off list from a people still confused after 
Allen's response, I will add a couple points in an attempt to further 
clarify.   The majority (if now not all) of the canola grown for  "_seed 
replication_" on the prairies, is done in southern Alberta.  Most of 
this land can or must be irrigated (This helps with the control of 
volunteer canola plants outside the fields), has a much longer (safer) 
growing season, etc . This however is only a small portion of the total 
acreage of canola sown in the province.  There are many, many hives 
placed on or near fields of canola from which the seed will be _crushed_ 
for its oil.  Like our cousins in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, we do not 
receive any monetary compensation for these hives.  Not everyone chooses 
to or could participate in the pollination end of it.  I haven't heard 
this years numbers, but believe last year it was in the neighbourhood of 
60,000 hives used.  Most but not all of these are "Alberta" hives, as a 
some come out from British Columbia.

 >The beekeepers don't mind, since they get huge crops of excellent 
honey from canola.

Not always a given, as certain varieties are poor (maybe even none 
existent) nectar producers and sometimes the flowering period is very 
short.  Maybe not a problem for Allen who lives down in the "Banana 
Belt", but most beekeepers in the central and northern regions of the 
province have had years where we've missed the canola flow because of 
the weather.

Dave Tharle
Ardmore, AB
Canada
+54 16'8.74
-110 29'5.11"

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