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? 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?
MJ

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

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

mj wrote:
....
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.

there may be some kind of fruit or nut operation
you don't know about. some crops too may do better
if pollinated by honey bees.


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

there are very few "escaped bees". they move the hives
at night, after almost all of the bees have returned to
the hive. any left behind will die off. the queen is
the only bee that can make a new hive (or a mating flight
of drones and queen wanna-bees, but that's not likely
with a managed hive) or replenish lost worker bees.


songbird

Curcurbits likw squash and watermelon use imported beehives as pollinators. Don't they grow stuff like that in NC? Also sunflowers.

They do need to get the bees back somewhere cool for the winter, because if they are somewhere too warm for too long they remain active for longer, use up reserves quicker, and then aren't in a fit state for early season pollinations like California almonds. Some hives do an east coast to west coast migration each year, wintering somewhere in between, others wander north and south. Since the second world war the quantity of crops requiring imported pollinators in teh USA has increased 4-fold while the number of bees hives has less than halved. So each beehive has to cover 10x the area it used to, hence the requirement for all this driving around. Bee diseases have resulted in an excess of demand over supply. It's the huge dominance of single crops over a large contiguous area you get in the USA, such as California almonds, that reduces the number of natural pollinators available and results in a larger demand for pollinators than is required in Europe, where there is more of a mix.

In article ,
echinosum wrote:

mj;988966 Wrote:
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

Curcurbits likw squash and watermelon use imported beehives as
pollinators. Don't they grow stuff like that in NC? Also sunflowers.

They do need to get the bees back somewhere cool for the winter, because
if they are somewhere too warm for too long they remain active for
longer, use up reserves quicker, and then aren't in a fit state for
early season pollinations like California almonds. Some hives do an
east coast to west coast migration each year, wintering somewhere in
between, others wander north and south. Since the second world war the
quantity of crops requiring imported pollinators in teh USA has
increased 4-fold while the number of bees hives has less than halved.
So each beehive has to cover 10x the area it used to, hence the
requirement for all this driving around. Bee diseases have resulted in
an excess of demand over supply. It's the huge dominance of single
crops over a large contiguous area you get in the USA, such as
California almonds, that reduces the number of natural pollinators
available and results in a larger demand for pollinators than is
required in Europe, where there is more of a mix.


http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/...-worth-billion
s-to-farmers/

Researchers said both rented European honeybees and wild pollinator bee
species are currently experiencing supply problems. More than 1 million
honeybee colonies are imported to California each year, chiefly for
almond pollination. Recently, beekeepers have suffered high rates of
colony losses due to diseases, pesticides and management factors,
increasing the uncertainty of both supply and rental prices.

Wild pollinator species also show declines in abundance and diversity on
farmlands, most likely due to habitat loss from the intensive
monoculture, or single crop, production system that typifies much of
California's agricultural lands.

"Currently, wild pollinators are least abundant in intensive monoculture
production areas such as sunflowers, almonds and melons, where demand
for pollination services is largest," said Kremen, who was named a 2007
MacArthur Fellow for her work in ecology, biodiversity and agriculture.

Wild pollinators key to sustainability

Kremen said the findings suggest that if farmers paid ranchers to stay
on the land and maintain the habitat, the farmers would be increasing
their sources of pollination and developing critical diversification to
support their agricultural practices.

"We would never invest all of our retirement savings in just one stock,
but this is essentially what farmers do when they rely solely on the
European honeybee for pollination," said Kremen. She said this is
exactly what is occurring in California agriculture right now.

"Diversifying their monetary investment in pollinators to include wild,
rangeland-dwelling species is the same idea as diversifying a stock
portfolio," she said, adding that the unpredictability associated with
climate change amplifies the importance of diversification.

Lynn Huntsinger, a professor of rangeland management at UC Berkeley who
is not affiliated with the study, said that the findings are significant
because the study is the first to discover that conserving rangelands
enhances crop production.

"This evidence of economic symbiosis makes it clear that rangeland
conservation cannot be separated from the needs of agriculture, whether
it is farming or ranching," Huntsinger said.

She said that precisely because rangelands have been used for ranching -
livestock grazing - ranchers have kept the land conserved and stewarded
it in ways that result in habitat that sustains wild bee species as well
as other wildlife.

"Studies in some ecosystems have shown that well-managed grazing can
keep invasive grasses from shading out the flowering herbs that native
pollinators rely on," Huntsinger said.

The state's rangelands have been decreasing steadily, as the foothills
and oak-dotted grasslands can be highly desirable for residential
development, Huntsinger said. California lost 105,000 acres of grazing
lands to urbanization between 1990 and 2004, according to the state
Department of Conservation. The California Oak Foundation projects that
the state could lose another 750,000 acres by 2040.

She said the vast majority of rangelands are privately owned, and income
from ranching is usually small compared to the price the land can
command in the real estate market, so when cash is needed for college,
retirement or other major expenses, ranchers face strong pressure to
sell.

"This new finding about pollinators is important because not only does
it tell us something we need to know to maintain our ability to grow
food, it also provides a statewide value for the service of providing
pollinator habitat. Ranchers need to get that value and other rangeland
values recognized in order to sustain their ranches," Huntsinger said.

The finding comes at a time when there is growing interest within the
ranching community in providing ecosystem services, Huntsinger said. For
example, as part of conservation efforts, California ranchers have been
asked to maintain flowers for endangered butterflies and to keep small
spring wetlands known as vernal pools healthy - using grazing as a tool
to manipulate the grassland.

http://www.naturalnews.com/039479_wi...curity_honeybe
es.html
Loss of wild pollinators hurting food security
--
Palestinian Child Detained
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzSzH38jYcg

Remember Rachel Corrie
http://www.rachelcorrie.org/

Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg

On Thursday, August 1, 2013 3:37:52 PM UTC-4, 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? 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?

MJ

Actually cotton needs pollination.