[PCA] Native pollinators might be able to do the job

Maria and Marc Minno mminno at bellsouth.net
Tue Sep 30 23:02:51 CDT 2008


I checked with my friends in north Florida who know beekeepers, and they say 
the organic beekeepers are not having trouble with hives dying.  Could it be 
that it's just a management issue, and that proper hive management will 
solve the problem?  I've read about such creepy practices as feeding the 
bees high fructose corn syrup, and of course if not organic they are exposed 
to so many pesticides, and then the beekeepers may even put pesticides in 
the hives to ward off bee pests.

If the native bees are coming back, and only organic hives can survive now, 
anyway, what could be bad about that?

M
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
To: <native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 12:47 PM
Subject: [PCA] Native pollinators might be able to do the job


> Dear All,
>
> I have been a bee keeper for three decades, but periodically I lose my
> hive to swarming, winter cold, droughts, etc. and I notice a huge increase
> in the native pollinators when the honey bees are gone.  The honey bees
> are like big bullies, and take over the flowers from the native
> pollinators.
>
> However, a lot of the native pollinators may be mainly nectar lovers and
> not pollen gatherers, like the honey bee, so their nectar-sipping may not
> actually transfer much pollen.
>
> If we were to substitute the native pollinators for the honey bees, we
> would also need to create areas of permanent habitat near our almond
> fields, etc. where they could live year-round.
>
> Sincerely,  Craig Dremann, Redwood City, CA (650) 325-7333
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> native-plants mailing list
> native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
> http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/native-plants_lists.plantconservation.org
>
> Disclaimer
> Posts on this list reflect only the opinion of the individual who is 
> posting the message; they are not official opinions or positions of the 
> Plant Conservation Alliance.
>
> To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to 
> native-plants-request at lists.plantconservation.org with the word 
> "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
> 





More information about the native-plants mailing list