honey bee populations adequate for this year's largest pollination event....

[mike_c]

The California almond crop is the world's largest managed pollination event. Last year there was widespread concern about whether declining honeybee populations would produce enough bees to pollinate the almond crop this year due to colony collapse disorder. Early indications are that although CCD is still a concern, there are plenty of healthy honey bee hives available this spring.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_8531076

San Joaquin County's $143 million almond industry is off to a good start this year as the clear, warm weather and adequate supply of honeybees encourage successful pollination during the ongoing bloom season.

--snip--

As well as good weather, farmers are being aided by sufficient supplies of honeybees to pollinate orchards throughout the state, Blue Diamond's Baker said.

"We don't have any complaints from growers this year about, 'We haven't been able to get bees or get enough bees,'" he said.

Still, bee rental rates remain at historical highs -- about $140 to $150 a hive -- and some beekeepers continue to report problems with so-called colony collapse disorder, in which hives seem suddenly to empty or vanish with no apparent cause, a UC Davis bee expert said Thursday.

"It's not quite as bad as last year, but there were still individuals who still had problems," said Eric Mussen of UC Cooperative Extension.

"It's definitely still out there; it still needs to be worked on to see what's going on," he said of the mysterious disorder.

[CountAllVotes]

1. oh thank god for this

:hi: and thanks for the news on this! There are plenty of them around here where I live still (luckily!).

:kick: and recommend too!! :D

[BOSSHOG]

2. On a related subject

A dog was attacked and killed by a swarm of killer bees in Gulfport, Mississippi last week. The dog's owner tried to save the dog but the bees attacked him as well. The fire department came to the man's property and destroyed the hive. Killer bees are spreading across the south. I wonder if they breed with honey bees and what havoc that might wreak in the long run.

[mike_c]

3. "killer bees" are africanized honeybees....

They started out as a cross between an african strain of honeybees and the common european strain, so yes, they do indeed breed with "regular" honeybees, which are the european strain everyone is most familiar with. As they've out-crossed their way up from South America the africanized genes have become somewhat diluted, reducing their aggression considerably, but as your story illustrates, they still do occasionally engage in aggressive attacks. In the long run mixing those african genes into the european honeybee genome will undoubtedly be good for the species. The honeybee is entirely too closely bred, which is causing lots of long term viability problems. This has also been cited as a possible contributor to CCD.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Hmmmm ... more of an Environment/Energy posting? nt

[mike_c]

5. I dunno-- currrent topic in entomology....

:shrug: