RE: garden planning

Pollinator,

  Very good info.  We all need to be reminded of the importance of our
pollinators.  Thanks to your informative posts (here and on rec.gardens) I
have come to appreciate the little beasties instead of fearing their sting.
Although I am still not convinced that carpenter bees are friendly.  I do
believe they enjoy chasing me around the back deck.

Beth (MD zone 7) 

-----Original Message-----
From: Pollinator@aol.com [P*@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, March 26, 1999 10:32 AM
To: veggie-list@eskimo.com
Subject: Re: garden planning


In a message dated 99-03-26 08:34:36 EST, GremEA@navair.navy.mil (Grem, Beth
A) wrote:

<<   Yes, I must admit that I also ENJOY planning/graphing my garden.  It
does
 help in rotating plants and figuring out what seed to buy. >>

-A caveat to add to this thread:

    Pollination is the factor most often left out, when planning is done. Do
you have a pollination plan?

    Some folks assume that pollination will just happen. They lose some of
their production, degrade some, and worst of all, may not recognize the
symptoms, so they figure it's too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, or not
enough fertilizer, etc.

    A few areas still have plentiful bees, so they haven't thought about
this
much. But a neighbor beekeeper dies, moves away, loses his bees to
disease/parasites, or just gives up. A community-wide spraying program is
instituted for gypsy moth/ mosquito/medfly/grasshopper.  Suddenly, there an
not enough bees and the gardener without a proactive plan is just stuck.

    It is helpful just to know.  Do you know what are the primary
pollinators
in your garden? Generally it is some kind of bee, though
moths/butterflies/wasps are important for some wild plants, and a few plants
rely on hummingbirds. 

    What crops do you grow that need pollenizers?

    Nurseries will often tell you that a particular fruit tree is "self-
pollinating."  That is downright unethical, because very few fruit tress can
produce without a pollinator, usually a bee. There is a BIG difference
between
self-fertile and self-pollinating. And most self-fertile plants still
produce
better quality with cross pollination.

    Likewise a few seed companies volunteer to send "pollinators" with some
of
their seeds. That is an outstanding offer!  Bees are the primary
pollinators,
so demand your bees, when they simply send some dyed seeds of a pollenizer
variety.

   And you may have to defend your bees, whether wild or domestic.
Pesticides
that are toxic to bees forbid application when bees are foraging in the
application area. The law is in the form of label directions, and
application
not in accord with the directions is actually pesticide misuse.  This means
the applicator must have a system to monitor when bees forage, so the
application can be safely made without killing bees.

   It is very common to evade the law by notifying beekeepers and demanding
that they protect the bees. Beekeepers are very limited in how much
protection
they can give to domestic bees, and no protection is granted to wild bees by
this evasion. Beekeepers, gardeners, and everyone who eats pollinated food
must stand together to make sure the law is implemented and enforced, rather
than evaded, when insecticide applications are done.

    Be sure you read and follow the bee-protection directions on the labels
of
any pesticides that you use.

    Remember bees are involved with one third of your food.

-More resources below:

Dave Green   SC  USA
The Pollination Home Page   http://www.pollinator.com
The Pollination Scene   http://members.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html

Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop on the Internet  (honey & beeswax candles)
http://members.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm
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