On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 11:32 AM, David Adams <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:
>
> Tell that to the tens of thousands of hives rented for blueberry
> pollination, a bumble bee has a longer tongue and is ideal for those, but
> bees get the job done by having shear numbers far above any placement of
> bumble bees could do and be managed, and hungry beekeepers wanting to rent
> them.
> end of quote
>
Tongue length is not an issue in blueberries like it is in red clover (and
there usually just the first cut, flowers are smaller on the second cut).
The superiority of bumblebees in blueberries is due to "buzz pollination"
where they violently shake the flower and pollen explodes out. Honeybees
pollinate by accident in collection of nectar, they are unable to get much
pollen. But please do not frame this as a "one is better than the other"
discussion. The combination of both is best. As one of the prime early
researchers in the benefit of blueberry pollination, the late Endel Karmo,
used to say "bumblebees are like a plough exploding out the pollen, and the
honeybees harrow it in".
For the blueberry grower it is a cost issue: A bumblebee colony costs over
$70 Cdn. (the last price I heard was $280 per quad, a unit of 4). There are
about 150 bees in that. Assume they are all foragers. A spring honeybee
hive has about 30,000 bees, so roughly 10,000 foragers for $125. A
bumblebee is worth much more than a honeybee (not only do they buzz
pollinate, but they fly at about 4 degrees C colder than a honeybee), but
probably not near as much as the cost difference. But growers are getting
smarter and making efforts to conserve and encourage wild bees which only
helps our bees too, the environment, and the effectiveness of honeybees as
blueberry pollinators.
Stan
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