Paul Lundy With Bee Buddies
With a nationwide average of a 36 per cent collapse of bee colonies (CCD) this past year (and some areas reporting between 50 and 80 per cent) the pollination of crops, plants, trees, and flowers could be in jeopardy if there is further escalation of this problem. Economic and nutritional devastation, particularly from crop failure, could become monumental. Scientists are trying to isolate causes from among about a dozen possibilities but it’s also likely that it could be a combination of factors. Global climate change, pesticides and herbicides, mites, parasitic wasps are all among those being considered. Very recently a particular parasite was isolated in one study as a cause of a colony collapse and it was successfully treated and eliminated.
Dave Hunter Makes His Point
Dave Hunter’s passion is mason bees and he’s been raising them for 18 years. Also known as the blue orchard bee or the Osmia Lignaria, Hunter says the Mason bee is one of the most significant pollinators to be found. Unlike the highly structured honey bee colonies, each female mason is a queen who also performs all the tasks, including those usually assigned to worker bees in the honeybee colony. And she is kind of a messy little bee as she rubs her abdomen on pollen, hoping to have it stick to her bristles. But as a result, she has pollen falling off on everything as she makes her way back to her hole. Hunter gives the pollination of an almond tree as an example of how few mason bees (about 7) are needed compared with a honey bee (about 545).
While the honey bee is active up into October, the mason bee is only active in April and May so it’s most effective in pollinating early crops like cherries, almonds, pears and blueberries. It’s also a very gentle bee, seldom stings and is indigenous to 46 states. Starting a colony is easy too – any hole in wood that’s about 5/16ths in diameter can be used but holes drilled in wood blocks with straw or rolled up parchment paper or tubes with inserts are most effective. They prefer warmth and dryness and Hunter suggests having a block 6 – 7 feet high under an eave with a southern exposure.
Hunter is so interested in perpetrating mason bee colonies in the Puget Sound area, he currently works with 110 partners with whom he’s helped establish colonies. And he’s looking for more. He will assess your property and its needs then provide bees and advice to get it started.
Paul Lundy has been an 11-year honeybee keeper and sells his honey at Pine Cone Gifts in Kingston under the name Myra Springs. He says the shop carries honey from five local beekeepers and completely sells out of the entire product. Lundy brought a glass-enclosed frame with a number of active honey bees as part of his “show and tell” presentation.
Honeybees are larger than mason bees but there are only four genetic strains in the world so they have become somewhat more prone to genetically based strains of disease. The queen honeybee can produce up to 2000 eggs per day in her well-ordered hive that also consists of drones (who die following mating) and the amazing worker bees who do a variety of specified tasks such as construction, guard, housekeeper and most importantly, the collection of pollen and nectar. A queen can live from 3-5 year and a new queen is specifically selected by the workers from larva and fed only “royal jelly”.
Honeybees pollinate by wing vibration and the Backyard Beekeepers Association states that honey bees account for 80 per cent of the world’s pollination. By contrast to the mason, the honeybee starts pollinating in May and continue into the first part of October. In the autumn, a new queen will take half the colony and form a new hive to winter over.
Both men emphasized the importance of bee keeping and pollination in the world of crop fertilization as well as flower and plant propagation. One web site estimated that there is a 15 billion dollar industry in commercial bee pollination. So “bee” good to your bees and consider keeping some hives if you have crops, particularly those that are fruit bearing. Or keep some for honey production if you’re interested in the thriving local honey business. Because of additives, antibiotics and other substances added to honey that comes from China and Taiwan and other unregulated countries that’s sold to some large national commercial honey companies, a huge interest has been generated in buying honey produced locally by locally known and trusted beekeepers.
A Mason Bee Condo
For more information on Westsound Beekeepers go to: www.westsoundbees.org or call Paul Lundy at (360) 297-6743. For more information on mason bees, Dave Hunter can be contacted at huntersmasonbees@comcast.net or call (425) 481-8757. Web sites for more bee information: www.beediverse.com www.pollinatorparadise.com www.backyardbeekeepers.com www.Xerces.org
Finally, thanks once again to Chris Henry of the Kitsap Sun for her well researched, front page articles about our insect friends. Here is the library of her recent articles.
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/may/13/kitsap-bee-population-still-buzzing-despite/
http://pugetsoundblogs.com/south-kitsap/2009/05/14/reporter-braves-bees-for-your-viewing-pleasure/
http://www.kitsapsun.com/videos/detail/bees/
http://www.kitsapsun.com/photos/galleries/2009/may/13/kingston-beekepers/
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