No pollination problems

Nationwide, an ailment called Colony Collapse Disorder has been playing havoc with honeybee populations, causing the entire population of some hives to simply vanish, as if the bees simply got up and left.

For many farmers elsewhere in the U.S. this has been a cause of concern, because honeybees are the primary pollinators of their crops. No bees, no strawberries. Or many other fruits and vegetables

However, for local cranberry growers, the effect of Colony Collapse Disorder hasn’t been seen. Pollination season has just wrapped up and, according to Brian Wick of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, it’s been a good year for the bees. Many growers have said these are some of the best bees they’ve ever seen, according to Wick.

That’s not to say growers aren’t concerned. There may be other ways to pollinate some crops, but for cranberry growers, it’s bees or nothing. And pollination is an annual event. When news first broke about CCD back in November, local growers were concerned, said Wick.

Despite the good news this year, Wick said growers are being vigilant. The Xerces Society, an Oregon-based organization dedicated to invertebrate preservation, will be holding a workshop for local cranberry growers on the use of wild bees for pollination.

Other growers are giving the honeybee’s furrier cousins, the bumblebee, a try as pollinators. Some growers, according to Wick, find them harder workers than the domestic honeybee, while other growers are less than impressed.

Among the growers who gave bumblebees a try this year was Wareham-based A.D. Makepeace. Lee Lemmertz, operations manager for the company was satisfied with the alternate insects, but mostly his company stuck with its usual suppliers. Like Wick, Lemmertz was pleased with this year’s pollination. “It’s as good as I’ve seen,” he said.

Makepeace uses four different apiaries, one Florida-based, the others Maine-based, which ensures the company is not reliant on one supplier. After news of CCD first came out in November, Lemmertz said he was on the phone with his beekeepers every two weeks making sure all was well with their hives. Overall, he said, everything turned out OK, though one apiary had what he called a “small” problem.

Makepeace used 3,000 hives to pollinate roughly 1,600 acres of bogs in Carver, Wareham, Plymouth and Norton.

Otherwise, growers have few options besides hoping for the best, said Wick. Beekeepers providing pollination services come from all over the country, many traveling with the seasons. The cause of CCD has not been determined. Suggested causes have included poor management, contaminants, or some new type of parasite.

According to Crystal Card of Billerica-based Merrimack Valley Apiaries, which provides pollination services for several South Shore cranberry growers, the number of bees lost this year was no worse than usual. According to Card, losing 25 percent of the bee population is not unusual. Other beekeepers however, had “real problems.” The lack of a clear cause for CCD makes it difficult to combat it, “We can’t be certain what we’re doing or not doing,” said Card. The one bright side to the issue, however, is that a great deal of research is being done on the problem. “That makes me feel a lot better,” said Card.

As for the quality of the bees, which made growers so happy, Card said her business raised prices and put all the additional money into the bees, providing them with better feed, medication and more room in their hives. “The growers got more for their money,” said Card.

According to Lemmertz, last year the charge per hive was $50, this year it rose to $60. Lemmertz attributed the price hike to higher fuel prices and an increase in the cost of queen bees.

Other states have seen severe problems because of CCD. Domestically, the biggest impact is being felt on the West Coast, where commercial farming and bee pollination take place on a much larger scale. In New York state the damage has been acute. Beekeeper Jim Doan of Hamlin, N.Y. lost 70 percent of his bees last year to CCD, and his parents, Judy and Ed, also beekeepers, lost even more. Some hobbyists within the Ontario County (New York) Beekeepers Association have lost up to 90 percent of their honey crop.

Material from Gatehouse News Service was used in this article.

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