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Re: Bees and assorted pollinators


From: GML <greg@speakeasy.org>


<<There has been a lot of news about the demise of wild bees and the
decimation of domestic hives. Some say that there is no real problem,
merely a temporary "shortage" and that this is all a political
smokescreen by the beekepers association because Uncle Sugar is cutting
funding everywhere. Others say that "we" are in big trouble and that a
minimum of 200 species of plants, shrubs and trees will be  dying or
extinct within two years. 
I'm strictly an amateur, not even a farmer. Could someone with
credentials cut through the B.S. and tell me what is going on? I
apologize if this is "old news".>>

   Well, it's not yet the end of life as we know it, but a major cause of
concern.

   It's interesting that there is a lot of hullabaloo about the honeybee
loss to a parasitic mite, which, while true, ignores the fact that
pollinator populator populations were in serious decline before the mite
arrived.

   I am a commercial beekeeper who specializes in crop pollination.  I
have lost more bees to pesticide misuse than from varroa mites.  The
damage from my own clients is quite rare; we have contract that require
them to obey pesticide label directions; but the neighbors may not obey
them.

   However, I've found that calling attention to pesticide misuse on bees
is not politically correct.  The pesticide industry is quite wealthy, and
they contribute heavily to extension research projects.  They don't want
to be bothered with bee protection, so the standard procedure is to
circumvent pesticide label directions, with official sanction, by telling
the beekeepers to protect the bees.  Now it is impossible for me to
protect my own bees (there might be 20 different sites on any given day in
July, that would be vulnerable).  And I certainly cannot protect the wild
pollinators.

   If you'd like a general overview of the pollination picture, check out
the web page below.  Then, if you want further info, or want to comment,
please write.



Pollinator@aol.com                                   Dave Green
Practical Pollination Home Page    
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html  
PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC    29554
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