Without the bees to pollinate the trees, there would be no almond crop.
The importance of honeybees is now written across a first-ever set of public guidelines for almond growers and beekeepers, released Thursday by the California Almond Board. The guidelines are meant to safeguard bees, whose winter numbers have been plunging.
Threats to honeybees have become a national issue since bee colony collapse disorder was identified in 2006. In June, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum directing U.S. agencies to take further steps to protect and restore domestic populations of pollinators, including honeybees.
In California, beekeepers in orchards from Fresno to Bakersfield encountered extremely harsh losses to colonies last season. A likely culprit: tank mixing of insecticides that are highly toxic to bees, said Eric Mussen, apiculturist with UC Davis Cooperative Extension.
The guidelines, which are voluntary, seek to create a dialogue between almond growers and beekeepers, especially over pesticide use and the mixing of pesticides and fungicides.
For growers, bee health is an issue of great financial significance.
“Pollination is the highest per-acre cost that growers experience, at $300 per acre to rent the hives,” said David Phippen, an almond farmer in Manteca. “The last thing that we would want to do is put that value at risk in any way. If we mistreated or did not do the best practices that we could, the beekeeper would not be anxious to bring their bees back.”
During the second week of February, a million beehives are brought into California to pollinate the almond crop. Half a million from California participate in that pollination, too. In total, more than 780,000 acres are pollinated by bees.
The new guidelines were warmly received by those in the beekeeper community.
“I’m impressed with how well it addresses all the issues that have arisen over the past few years,” said Amina Harris, director of the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute at UC Davis. “The writers made it clear that there is research to be done concerning larva and young bees. They have also stressed the dangers of mixing insecticides and fungicides.”
Some say such voluntary guidelines may be too small a step to safeguard the bees.
Paul Towers, spokesman for Pesticide Action Network, called the Almond Board’s guidelines a “step in the right direction,” but said that what’s needed is mandatory government regulation.
“Ultimately, voluntary programs shouldn’t take the place of government regulators who are falling down on the job,” said Towers. “As bee-harming pesticides remain on the market, Americans shouldn’t have to only rely on grocery stores and farmers to step up.”