On Thursday, August 1, 2013 3:58:49 PM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
mj wrote:

We were watching Shipping Wars the other night and one of the

loads being shipped was 26 tons of bees (including hive boxes).

This guy ships them from Michigan to North Carolina in the

spring and then back in the fall. In just the trip back there

must have been a million bees lost.

My first question is Why would he do this?



to pollinate crops. there are not often enough

local wild honey bees to adequately pollinate some

crops.





Second, somehow I would think this would fall

into the same kind of regulation that prevents

transporting some plant material from state to

state.

Anyone know, Any ideas?



i'm pretty sure it does require a license of

some kind, but also it likely gets exemptions

from strict controls in exchange for certain

kinds of regular inspections to prevent the

spread of diseases.



the problem is that there are only so many

bees to pollinate crops. some crops almost

require european honey bees to pollinate them.

as the bee diseases and collapses continue this

puts even more pressure on those hives left

behind. shipping exposes them to more stress

and pollution. generally, it's not a really

great solution to the problem, but until someone

comes up with something better it's often all

that certain farmers have available to get the

job done.



some hives travel thousands of miles each year.





songbird

OK but I live near where he took the bees in North Carolina and I have heard nothing about needing bees for pollination. I sure have seen a lot of them around here. I forget the name of the town but it is a bit North of here on the eastern side of the state. Not the coast but east of Route 95. Although there are crops, feed corn, cotton, and much less tobacco this is mostly hog country.

You say they travel thousands of miles, does that mean the escaped bees will find their own way back to Michigan?

MJ