Most excitingly, the idea that CCD is result of a complex set of environmental factors seems to be gaining currency, thanks to a recent article in Science by Ratnieks and Carreck, as reported here by Wired.
Citation: “Clarity on Honey Bee Collapse?” by Francis L. W. Ratnieks and Norman L. Carreck in Science, 8 JANUARY 2010 VOL 327.While the ageing beekeeping industry is a problem in the USA, like Australia and other countries, there seems to be growing interest in beekeeping among retirees who are keen to do their bit to help save the honeybee (see this article in Bee Culture by Larry Connor from September 2009). This raises the vexed question of how to successfully train people to keep bees. It doesn't seem like there is any easy answer to this. In Australia the courses have been developed, but there is never enough demand at the same time and place to warrant running formal vocational training.
An increase in people wanting to keep backyard hives, coupled with the promotion of urban beekeeping, means trouble in the suburbs. Bees where you live can quickly turn into pests; if swarms establish themselves in people's houses, or garden water features become bee drinking holes, or bee droppings start showing up on people's cars, there is bound to be conflict. This article by James Tew in the November 2009 issue of Bee Culture explains the problems. From the article, it seems that the conflict mainly arises when a serious beekeeping enterprise is permanently located in an urban area. But as the article doesn't mention the size of the problem "bee yards" my conclusion might be wrong.
Initiatives like the Pollinators Park in the City of Guelph, Canada, are very interesting, and it would be nice to see more of this sort of activity around. Incorporating pollinator flora into the urban environment sets a good precedent for rural planning to follow.
Leaving the grassroots and getting back to the industry, Joe Traynor is a pollination broker in the USA, and his article in Bee Culture in September 2009 describes an interesting cycle of boom and bust in the almond pollination business. High almond prices contributed to the expansion of Californian almond plantings in the last decade, driving up demand and prices for pollination. Despite the real possibility that beekeepers did not actually pass on their real costs in setting pollination prices, the income received was more than sufficient to maintain the health of their hives and increase the number of hives available. This was the boom time: many beekeepers would travel over to California whether they had contracts or not, because they were confident that all their hives would be needed for pollination and they could get a good price even at the last minute. Then one year the prosperity of beekeepers and slower growth of the almond industry means that there is an oversupply of bees at pollination time. Beekeepers who went to California without contracts lost money and in some cases could not afford to get their bees home again. Bust, and big time. Add in other limiting factors like water restrictions in California almond regions, and suddenly the future seems very uncertain for beekeepers.
The above situation and the economics behind it really highlight the need for more study and planning to handle the transition into managed pollination. While there might be enough hives on paper to cover Australia's pollination needs, the willingness and ability of beekeepers to provide that pollination is not a given. In addition, being the last continent to get varroa (if and when we get it), Australia is in the unique position to be able to look at the experiences of others and learn, or even come up with entirely new ways of managing crop pollination for food security and the benefit of growers and beekeepers and the general public.
No comments:
Post a Comment