Infrequently growers double or triple the standard choice of honey bee colonies in a box or orchard to be able to get enough pollination. For the bees themselves, it way extra pageant for scarce assets.
Within: Pollination saturation is a little-known methodology for expanding the pollination charge of positive vegetation. It really works neatly, however some folks consider it’s unfair to the bees.
Flooding a crop with bees
Pollination saturation (often referred to as saturation pollination) is the apply of flooding a crop with an overly-large choice of honey bee colonies to be able to guarantee good enough pollination.
Growers use pollination saturation when the crop to be pollinated, equivalent to alfalfa or cranberries, isn’t a honey bee favourite. Or they’ll use it when luscious within sight weeds are blooming at the same time as with the crop. If honey bees crave the within sight weeds greater than the crop, they’re long gone till their most popular nectar disappears.
For instance, blueberries aren’t a well-liked plant, even though honey bees will forage on them if not anything else is to be had. But when the farmer subsequent door is rising cabbage seed, the honey bees will abandon the blueberries in prefer of the candy nectar of cabbage. If that’s the case, to guarantee good enough blueberry pollination, the blueberry farmer should herald additional colonies of honey bees.
Including additional colonies, double or triple the standard quantity, brings an outrageous choice of bees to a small house. Such a lot of, in reality, that the most popular nectar quickly disappears. When that occurs, bees haven’t any selection however to paintings the crop they don’t like…or waste time and effort flying additional afield.
With such a lot of bees in a single spot, they vie for any nectar and pollen they are able to in finding. Honey bees fiercely compete with each and every different and with local bees, butterflies, and others. Introducing such a lot of colonies places meals rigidity on all of the native pollinators.
Whilst many of us are fast accountable honey bees for pageant, so much relies on the growers and the beekeepers. The bees themselves can’t be blamed for a scenario people put them in.
The apply started in California alfalfa however is now commonplace
Pollination saturation first changed into a factor again in 1948, and it really works for explicit vegetation equivalent to cranberries, blueberries, alfalfa, ladino clover, alsike clover, kiwifruit, and a few melons and squashes.1 Historically, maximum vegetation require 2-3 hives according to acre for excellent pollination, even though the real quantity varies from 1 to 7, relying at the crop. However lately, that quantity has risen on account of the lack of wild bees and the decimation of feral honey bee colonies.
Losses of untamed bees are most likely on account of insecticides, monoculture vegetation, habitat destruction, and local weather alternate. Feral honey bees have all the ones problems in conjunction with varroa mites, viruses, and different pests and pathogens.
Pollination saturation is solely some other device that may be each helpful and damaging. It’s a type of issues that beekeepers will have to learn about, despite the fact that they by no means use it themselves.
Rusty
Honey Bee Suite
- Saturation pollination. (2018, July 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturation_pollination
About Me
My love of bee science is sponsored by means of a bachelor’s stage in Agronomic Vegetation and a grasp’s in Environmental Research. I’ve written broadly about bees, together with a present column in American Bee Magazine and previous columns in Two Million Blossoms and Bee Craft. Lately, I’ve taken a couple of lessons in melittology and made in depth identifications of North American bees for iNaturalist. My grasp beekeeping certificates issued from U Montana. Extra right here.