Orchard Mason Bees

I've been looking over the Terra Viva newsletter.

a couple of clarifications/corrections are needed in the December issue:
http://www.tvorganics.com/main.cfm?NewsletterID=7&action=showNewsletterTips#2

The article "Attract Pollinators" states:
<<For the last couple of years, home gardeners have been finding poor fruit 
set because of the lack of pollination insects. The population of honeybees 
has been steadily declining due to a highly infectious virus that has 
attacked the bee population across North America. Additionally, areas where 
other pollinating insects seek refuge through the winter have been destroyed 
from urban sprawl or agricultural spraying practices.>>

    Not only poor fruit set, but small and deformed fruits is due to lack of 
pollinator visits.  To make perfect cucumber needs about a eight to ten 
bumblebee visits or fifteen to twenty honeybee visits. Fewer visits may 
produce a fruit but it will be misshappen, tough and slow growing.  The 
article in Terra Viva has identified one of the most serious environmental 
issues of the day -- the decline of pollinator populations

   But the reference is to varroa mites, a parasite rather than a virus. 
There are bee viruses, and the parasitic mites may or may not be vectors of 
viruses (a hotly debated question among bee researchers).  There is also 
another new parasite, the african hive beetle, which may turn out to be worse 
than varroa mites. This beetle also is parasitic on bumblebees, so it will 
impact pollination even more than varroa, which afflicts only honeybees.

<<For any gardener who grows fruit trees or plants squashes and cucumbers, 
pollinating insects make a great deal of difference in the amount of food 
they can harvest. To overcome the problem, gardeners can attract the solitary 
Orchard Mason Bee. These bees are super-pollinators and their solitary nature 
has allowed them to withstand becoming infected with the virus. The bees are 
highly active early in the season, before most honeybees even come out of 
their hives.>>

    Yes, they are highly active early in the season, which makes them 
valuable for backyard fruit trees, but they are NO HELP in the garden, 
because they are dormant when the squash and cucumbers are blooming.

    The inplication that the Orchard Mason bees are more resistant to virus 
needs qualification. These bees do have their own viruses, fungus diseases, 
parasites, and preditors. While their solitary lifestyle may give some 
protection from some problems that afflict honeybees, they have other 
problems that can be as bad or worse.

    I support Terra Viva in advocating providing homes for these pollinators 
(and will add Terra Viva to the list of suppliers), but I think it is 
misleading to promote them as a cure-all for all pollination problems.  For 
our midseason pollination we have honeybees, bumblebees, squash bees, and 
some other solitary species, but orchard mason bees are simply not going to 
be of any value for curcurbits and other midseason bloomers.

    Some folks love to point out that honeybees are not native to North 
America (as if they ought to be exterminated, perhaps?), but conveniently 
forget that many of our food crops are not native either.  We are becomming 
so short of pollinators, that we need to encourage ALL the available 
pollinators. With commercial crops that need pollination, the shortage has 
been met by beekeepers becomming migratory, so they can concentrate the 
pollinators at appropriate times and places where their services are needed. 
Most commercial beekeepers today make more of their livelihood from 
pollination service than honey.  If this migration is disrupted, there will 
be serious food shortages.

    Migratory beekeepers may not be of much help to gardeners, though, 
because they aren't going to be willing to bother with rentals of one or two 
hives. Even if they have a nearby location for keeping bees, the bees may 
actually be far away on a pollination contract at the precise time the 
gardener needs them.  For this reason, thousands of gardeners have become 
hobby beekeepers, to augment their garden pollination.  Others work to 
improve habitat and forage for bees of all species.

    Supplying bee nests, may or may not be successful in attracting nesters, 
depending on whether they are present in the neighborhood.  (Orchard mason 
bees are only one of several kinds that can be cultured.)

    It may be necessary in some areas to establish a population by bringing 
these gentle pollinators back.  The deadline for sale/shipment of these is 
generally about the end of this month, so gardeners need to be planning their 
pollination needs as they decide about their seed purchases.  A list of 
suppliers, as well as a wealth of information about honeybees and alternative 
pollinators is available at http:pollinator.com   The Pollination Home Page.  
If you aren't sure whether you have adequate pollination, check the article: 
http://pollinator.com/whymanage/whymanagepol.htm

    Another valuable pollinator that is under attack is the carpenter bee, 
which to many looks like a giant bumblebee. These are not aggressive at all, 
yet many people are terrified of them.  Each spring you will see articles 
from garden "experts" on how to exterminate these bees, which can do quite a 
bit of spring pollination. This double standard is quite frustrating, to see 
those who should be helping to protect pollinators, instead advise people on 
how to kill them. 

    If your local "experts" do this, please take them to task for it.  The 
females, which can sting, but rarely do, will completely ignore humans, as 
they go about their work. The drones, which cannot sting at all, will 
investigate anything that moves. They will hover in front of you, and often 
will move back and forth in a mirror motion. You could even "dance" with 
these drones.  Their curiosity is fueled by their desire to mate. They will 
sometimes chase birds, as well. If you have a drone carpenter bee hovering 
about you, toss a pebble for some entertainment.

   As we look over those lovely fruits and veggies in the catalogs, let's 
remember that without good pollination, we will have blossom drop, fruit 
abortion while small, or puny, malformed fruits and vegetables.  Plan your 
pollination needs right now for the upcoming season.

Dave        The Pollination Home Page
http://pollinator.com
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index