IN YOUR ORCHARD
THE BEE BOX
Leveraging Growers’ Practices and Beekeepers’ Preferences to Cover More Ground
Every February, the almond bloom pulls about 88% of the country’s honey bee colonies to California for one huge pollination event.¹ The pollination migration presents an opportunity to positively impact the health of the majority of the nation’s bees with practices that can also benefit the nation’s almond growers. The cost of colony rentals for pollination has steadily increased year over year, alongside the increased cost incurred by the beekeeper to provide enough food for the bees and maintain healthy colonies. Growers are now spending about $400 dollars an acre on pollination, which represents roughly ~13% of the cash cost per acre of an established orchard in the northern part of the San Joaquin Valley, and about ~9%
Growers attend a cover crop tour held by Blue Diamond Growers in 2023. Photo credit: Project Apis m.
of the cash cost per acre of an established orchard in the southern San Joaquin Valley. 4,5 As more almond acres go into production, the demand for honey bees grows. Beekeepers have been able to meet the demand so far, but there are not many extra colonies. This is especially true if a natural disaster or bee health issue impacts the number of available colonies. Strategically timed cover cropping with blooming cover crops can provide a valuable source of nutrition for visiting honey bees, while also conveying soil benefits to the almond grower. Changes in pesticide application practices can also benefit beekeepers and bees. Information gained from two recent surveys could help increase the adoption
Chart from: “Honey Bees on the Move: From Pollination to Honey Production and Back” by Jennifer K. Bond, Claudia Hitaj, David Smith, Kevin Hunt, Agnes Perez, and Gustavo Ferreira, June 2021.
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ALMOND FACTS
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