Guest Column: A Low-Tech Treatment for Bee Plague - Olivia Judson Blog - NYTimes.com: "As the swift expansion of feral honeybees across the Americas shows, they are not especially picky about their habitat; most anything outside of parking lot or vast monoculture will do. And for native bees, habitat could be restored to suit the needs of whichever species are exceptionally good pollinators of local crops. Bumblebees, for instance, are the best pollinators of Maine blueberries, whereas blue orchard bees work well for California almonds.
The right geographic arrangement of habitat would also depend on which native species are desired for a certain crop. Many native species are willing to fly relatively far from their home habitat — a kilometer or so — to visit flowers; accordingly, patches of habitat for these bees could be placed relatively far apart.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Guest Column: A Low-Tech Treatment for Bee Plague
I wonder if the bees would consider some of those half-built, abandoned McMansions outside of DeLand as sites for their hives?
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Native pollinators do all my flower work for me. In an entire year I see maybe a handful of honeybees and those usually only in the early spring when the greenhouse citrus is blooming. Bumblebees, southeastern blueberry bees, and assorted species of wasps, butterflies, and flies.
.....Alan.
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