"But if there are native bees doing the same work as honey bees on the same crops, on the scale of modern agriculture rather than backyards, please tell us the specific crops, acreages, and locations" According to the Ohio Bee Lab people at Ohio State University using honey bees to pollinate squash and pumpkins is a waste of money in Ohio as the native squash bee gets there first in the morning and does all needed pollination in Ohio commercial operations. Honey bees will sure go after those flowers for pollen later in the day but accomplish nothing of use to the plant. Dick " Any discovery made by the human mind can be explained in its essentials to the curious learner." Professor Benjamin Schumacher talking about teaching quantum mechanics to non scientists. "For every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong." H. L. Mencken -------------------------------------------- On Sun, 5/31/15, James Fischer <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Subject: Re: [BEE-L] Pollinator Habitat... To: [log in to unmask] Date: Sunday, May 31, 2015, 10:50 PM >> The other "pollinators" are conservation and ecological issues, not >> agricultural issues, as these NATIVE pollinators make their livings off >> NATIVE plants, not off our imported and extensively hybridized FOOD plants. > As usual, I am not sure whether this is tongue in cheek or represents some actual viewpoint. I'm sorry, perhaps I am unaware of examples of native species of bees doing productive pollination of food crops in commercial agriculture. (I think I already listed the obvious - greenhouse bumblebees, the small-scale successes of specific species with a few specific crops, such as alfalfa, and the small-scale use of orchard mason bees in backyards west of the Rockies.) But if there are native bees doing the same work as honey bees on the same crops, on the scale of modern agriculture rather than backyards, please tell us the specific crops, acreages, and locations, as I am sure we would all love to hear that after so many years of disappointment, we have an alternative that we can deploy and rely upon. *********************************************** 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 *********************************************** 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