Evidently there is a bit of a battle going on between seedless tangerine growers and beekeepers in California. Seedless tangerines, clementines and mandarin oranges are gaining in popularity with the fruit eating public. These fruits are self-pollinating but if they are cross-pollinated with seeded fruits, they will develop seeds. As a result of this cross-pollinating, seedless citrus fruit growers in California are taking beekeepers to court in an effort to keep bees out of their orchards.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture is scheduled to issue draft regulations this month that will require beekeepers to register their locations with county agricultural commissioners by March 1st so growers can monitor hives within two miles of their groves. If bees are too close, growers can ask beekeepers to move and hope they comply.
Some big growers are threatening to sue for damages and compensation if their fruits develop seeds. Beekeepers move their hives to follow the blossoms, starting with almonds in February, then oranges to make orange blossom honey and then to the Midwest in the spring for the clover. It is becoming more and more difficult to find winter feeding grounds for these bees.
The most astonishing aspect of this controversy, for me, comes from the mouth of Joel Nelson, executive director of California Citrus Mutual, who, when questioned about the bees, said, "We've coexisted with them, but we don't need them.”
It doesn’t look like this dispute is going to be settled and, in all probability, both sides will be heading to court.
While I certainly sympathize with the issues of seedless citrus growers and I understand what he meant, I beg to heartily disagree with Mr. Nelson. We all need the bees.
According to Shelley McNeal, master gardener and bee maven with the Howard County Cooperative Extension Service, "Every third bite of food we take is the result of pollinators." Bees are the worldwide workhorses of managed pollination. In the United States alone, bees play a vital role in the production of more than 100 commercially grown crops, pollinating everything from apples, blueberries, and cherries to almonds and zucchini. They also pollinate crops like clover and alfalfa, used to feed the animals we eat.
In the face of massive hive failures and bee die-offs, we need to be figuring out how to coexist with the bees. If that means spitting seeds out of my tangerines, I’m okay with that.
Update: After publishing this article I received an e-mail from Kim Flottum, Editor of Bee Culture Magazine, who has been following this issue for several months. She has written an excellent article at The Daily Green on The Drama Behind That Seedless Mandarin Orange You're Eating, as well as several other articles on bee related issues. To learn more about this important subject, head over there and see what she has to say.
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2 comments:
Has this guy lost his mind?
There is NO WAY that we can live and have enough food without the bees. Please put him in charge of something else.
My sentiments exactly Carol. What an amazing statement to make!
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