I tried searching but didn't find anything.

I'm sure people have heard about the bees dying out. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/06/27/bees.food.prices.ap/index.html

My question is, why don't farms try to maintain their own in-house hives rather than relying on bees shipped in every season? How long has the practice of moving bees from farm to farm been going on? I don't know anything about beekeeping (the class was always full when I tried to sign up for it ) so I'm really curious.

6/27/2008 10:22:07 PM

i thought they DID use their own bees.

6/27/2008 10:24:52 PM

Apparently a lot of farms these days rent bees to pollinate their crops, which is what is causing part of the bee shortage.

6/27/2008 10:26:18 PM

because farmers aren't beekeepers. CCD is still not fully understood, it has been observed in wild hives and cultivated hives.

6/27/2008 10:32:35 PM

maybe if we imported more productive bees from africa...

6/27/2008 10:42:12 PM

^^ That's kind of what I'm wondering though. Why wouldn't a farmer be able to maintain a small hive of his own? Or try to encourage a wild colony or something.

6/27/2008 10:45:08 PM

farmers need pollinators for two weeks

apiarists need a consistent source of nectar

it's more cost-effective to move the bees to whatever crops are in bloom at the time

6/27/2008 11:08:28 PM

i was wondering why farmers didnt keep beehives just the other day

6/27/2008 11:20:33 PM

Quote :

"because farmers aren't beekeepers."

and that was a really fun class.

6/28/2008 12:33:39 AM

6/28/2008 1:59:04 AM

let the bees die out. they're not supposed to be here in america anyways

use butterflies instead

6/28/2008 6:37:40 AM

In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women.

6/28/2008 10:56:16 AM

on the news:

Honeybee shortage may increase food prices

6/28/2008 11:00:57 AM

the trees are going to kill us

6/28/2008 11:26:36 AM