Too-Busy Bees

[groovedaddy]

IN the past five years, as the phenomenon known as colony-collapse disorder has spread across the United States and Europe, causing the disappearance of whole colonies of domesticated honeybees, many people have come to fear that our food supply is in peril. The news on Wednesday that a Department of Agriculture survey found that American honeybees had died in great numbers this winter can only add to such fears.

The truth, fortunately, is not nearly so dire. But it is more complicated.

There is good news: While some areas are seeing a shortage of bees, globally the number of domesticated honeybee colonies is increasing. The bad news is that this increase can’t keep up with our growing appetite for luxury foods that depend heavily on bee pollination. The domesticated honeybee isn’t the only pollinator that agriculture relies on — wild bees also play a significant role, and we seem intent on destroying their habitats.

To understand the problem, we need to understand the extent of the honeybee’s role in agriculture. Humans certainly benefit from the way bees — and to a lesser extent, other pollinators like flies, beetles and butterflies — help plants produce fruits and seeds. Agriculture, however, is not as dependent on pollinators as one might think. It’s true that some crops like raspberries, cashews, cranberries and mangoes cannot reproduce without pollinators. But crops like sugar cane and potatoes, grown for their stems or tubers, can be propagated without pollination. And the crops that provide our staple carbohydrates — wheat, rice and corn — are either wind-pollinated or self-pollinated. These don’t need bees at all.

Overall, about one-third of our worldwide agricultural production depends to some extent on bee pollination, but less than 10 percent of the 100 most productive crop species depend entirely on it. If pollinators were to vanish, it would reduce total food production by only about 6 percent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/opinion/25harder.html?th&emc=th

[zbiker]

1. i'm doing my part :)

their is nothing like having your morning coffee while only three feet from the hive entrance and watching your little honey makers come and go out of the hives in a flurry of activity. All while knowing they are pollinating everything in site.
wish we could get folks to understand the bee better, there is a lot of mis-information that has been drummed up over them over the years. :(. the one thing this author apparently never researched is how quickly i small hive can cast swarms if the food (pollen/nectar) is in abundance. many if not most of the cast off swarms are wild and bees seldom find it hard to find a nesting site. they truly are not all that picky and can make a home almost anywhere.
it would be virtually impossible for our food production to outstrip their pollinating abilities in an area , especially if you consider the amazing reproductive abilities of pollinators as a whole.
one small hive with a decent queen would amaze you in their abilities. If the research had been done on this article, that would have been the real heart of the subject.

[lazarus]

2. a question about bee keeping

do you need to be in an area with lots of flowers for them to thrive? We're in San Diego (right in the city), and it's fairly arid here, but there are quite a lot of plants around. I've toyed with getting a hive or two. I'd love to start making mead again.

[zbiker]

3. the easy answer

is yes, but of coarse a bee will travel around 2 to 3 miles to forage so in reality if one of your neighbors at the edge of town has a flower garden or two you are ok.
remember that bees will work not only flowers but fruit trees as well, as long as they are not the self pollinating type. they love apples,Cherry's,etc ( google around and see what is in your area)and small bushes of current Berry's,blue Berry's etc.
they also love to get in the garden and work, need your broccoli pollinated ?? :)
i would caution thou in your area to check and see if the africanized bee has arrived yet. these can be worked if done correctly and kept from cross breeding with your queen.
their are several excellent forum sites to access info from, one is here
http://www.beesource.com/forums/index.php
here is another
http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=16510#16510

althou mead is a worthy endeavor by any stretch of the imagination, don't limit yourself to it, you can make lots of other stuff as well including candy,honey scented candles, lip balm etc.
who knows, in a 2 year stretch you may just be small business person looking to expand :) and sell honey by the bucket

[lazarus]

4. thanks, zbiker

I'll definitely check out those fora. My sister inherited a couple of hives with her house in Alabama, and they have a guy come out to harvest it. I still remember my grandfather harvesting honey, and chewing on the comb. Yum!