IN YOUR ORCHARD
THE BEE BOX
Cover Crops and Honey Bees, a Match Made for Almonds Blue Diamond will soon be opening the application period for the Blue Diamond Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) Grant, formerly known as the Climate-Smart Grant. This opportunity provides farmers with free cover crop and conservation cover seed plus an additional per acre incentive payment. This program can help Blue Diamond farmers with qualifying for OSIP and receiving increased prices for their almonds for their participation. In addition to these financial incentives, cover crops can enhance soil health and pollinator productivity.
A diverse mixture of plants in a cover crop provides several benefits. While some cover crop seed mixes include only a single plant family for a specific purpose, others incorporate multiple families. Each plant family supports unique soil biology, but overall, cover crop root growth enhances soil biological activity, or soil health. When honey bees arrive in California in late winter, a flowering cover crop in or near the orchard creates a “feedback loop” within the hive, triggering population expansion. As soon as flight conditions improve, bees scout for food sources and communicate their findings back to the colony. Increased pollen intake signals the queen to lay more eggs, increasing foraging and worker bee production. This boost breaks winter dormancy, meaning the colony is more prepared for almond pollination. Continued forage availability in spring further supports hive growth, benefiting both almond pollination and beekeepers as hives move to other crops. Honey bee health and hive resiliency depend on diverse nutrition and environmental protection. Just as humans thrive on varied diets, bees need multiple forage sources to stay
healthy and productive. Importantly, cover crop flowers don’t divert bees from almond bloom, almond blossoms are more attractive and resource rich, when compared to many other late winter flowers. A varied diet strengthens hive populations, reducing sick or undernourished bees and ensuring more active pollinators for your crop. By mid-afternoon, once bees have visited all the fresh almond blossoms, and removed all the pollen available that day, they seek alternate pollen and nectar sources until new almond flowers open the following day. A flowering cover crop provides this supplemental forage without compromising almond set. If located within the orchard, cover crops anchor bees nearby, reducing energy spent foraging, extending worker lifespans, and minimizing exposure to external threats. Early flowering cover crops, like Seeds for Bees ® Pollinator Brassica mix, can be timed to bloom before or during almond bloom, with flowering lasting a month or longer. To achieve this, seeds must be planted and watered by early November. Given unpredictable autumn weather, Seeds for Bees ® recommends planting before the final, post-
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ALMOND FACTS
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