Bees Work for a Good Harvest

-Hives are in place in many orchards throughout Merced County

Bee hives can be seen near dozens of orchards in Merced and other counties throughout the Central Valley. Photo: Steve Newvine

It’s a sight that is almost as welcome a sign of spring as the blossoms on an almond tree.

Bee hives are in place now at dozens of agricultural enterprises in Merced and Stanislaus Counties. The bees are pollinating the blossoms.

They feed feed off of pollen and transport pollen grains as they move throughout an orchard. Quite simply, the success of the crop yield is directly related to the success of the bees.

Greg Shved knows how important this link between bees and crop yield can be. He is a commercial beekeeper who is grateful this year’s bee season is winding down successfully.

“Bee populations are definitely still threatened,” Greg says. “The biggest issues are diseases within the honey bees themselves that are getting harder to treat year to year.”

Greg is part of Exchange Bees, a supplier of honey bees for almond growers in California.

Honey bees are a key component to a successful yield. Photo: Steve Newvine

Bees are not the only pollinators. According to the Pollinator Partnership, a non-profit group that sets out to protect and grow the bee population, bats, beetles, birds, butterflies, flies, moths and a few small mammals are also part of the mix of pollinators.

But all experts agree, bees are the largest category of pollinators for agriculture production.

Greg adds, “The bee season for spring pollination is currently coming to an end in mid-March. There are other seasons with lower demand throughout the year.”

The Pollinator Partnership states that one out of every three bites of food we consume comes from a source that needs pollination. That’s why any threat to bee populations is taken seriously.

“We’re able to do it (treat diseases that impact bees) with pollination money,” Greg says.

The Pollinator Partnership, also known as P2, points to relationships with research scientists developed over thirty years ago to study bees.

Conservation strategies have been developed, and many partners are making the effort to secure and grow the bee population.

A poster was created by Pollinator.org to help people better understand the importance of protecting the bee population. The non-profit organization is selling the posters with proceeds to be used to provide education on pollinators. Photo: Pollinator.org

In 2020, there was concern over the so-called murder hornets. These hornets made their way to the US by way of Asia, being discovered first in the state of Washington and later in Canada.

According to the Weather Channel ('Murder Hornets' Have Arrived in U.S.; State Works To Protect Beehives | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com), the hornets pose a threat to humans with a venom that in high doses, could be deadly to humans.

A typical hive of honey bees could be destroyed by these murder hornets in just a few hours.

The hornets eat the heads off of honey bees and take over the hives. That’s a scary thought for honey bees, growers, and the general population.

According to Greg, so far, California orchards have been free of this threat.

Soon the hives will be taken away from this orchard in the Central Valley and the next stage of the growing cycle will move forward. Photo: Steve Newvine

The bee season will soon come to an end by mid-March.

For now, many growers are hoping for the best in terms of keeping bee populations healthy, and their crop yields rising.

They will only know how successful the season will be as harvesting and processing resumes later in the year.

If all goes well, we can expect the cycle to resume again next year when the bees return to the orchards throughout California.

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Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Can –Do Californians is available at BarnesandNoble.com and at Lulu.com

For more information on bees and their impact on growers in California, go to PolinatorPartnership.org and ExchangeBees.com