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The Bee Box CHRISTI HEINTZ & MEG RIBOTTO » Grower and 5th generation beekeeper, Rick Smith, champions bee health year-round. In the last 30 years, something has been happening in Yuma that others in the agricultural world and beyond are awakening to. It’s been the topic of several conversations and meetings in our nation’s capital where policy is being discussed. In recent EPA and chemical industry meetings, the “Yuma Success Story” is being discussed with interest. What is the Yuma Success Story and why should we be interested? THE BEE BOX “Healthier bees going into winter gives us healthier bees coming out of winter,” so says Alan Clarke, Arizona beekeeper and almond pollinator. Clarke has firsthand experience with collapsing honey bee colony populations. Just prior to almond pollination a few years ago, he lost more than 80 percent of his colonies between Thanksgiving Day and early January. That’s a tough hit for any beekeeper that relies on almond pollination to cover much of their operating costs. More and more beekeepers do rely on almond pollination over honey production to make ends meet. The honey business has had its challenges of late. Honey production in the United States in 2011 was down 16 percent compared to the previous year. Bad weather affected honey crops in key areas. Cheap foreign honey imports have also had an effect on the domestic honey market. “Beekeepers exist to pollinate crops, not to make honey,” according to another Arizona beekeeper, Rick Smith. “The business model for honey production just hasn’t worked well since the late 1990s.” Smith is a fifth generation beekeeper who also knows a lot about growing crops for food production. He’s a third generation farmer, too. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Arizona, and minored in range and watershed management. Yuma’s story took root in the 1980s by Smith’s father, and is still evolving today. The Yuma model for agriculture recognizes two important truths: 1) pests need to be controlled, and 2) bees are essential to the local agricultural community and need to be cared for all year long. Yuma is the winter lettuce and vegetable capital of the U.S. Melons, alfalfa, Sudan grass, cotton, wheat, safflower, corn, citrus and many vegetable seed crops are also grown in the area. In addition to pollinating crops with his bees, Smith farms cotton and durum wheat. He lives and farms in an area that is a microcosm The Yuma area, where Smith farms and runs his bee operation, has many similarities to the Central Valley’s almond region. Here, where the U.S. takes advantage of its last opportunity to access Colorado River water before it proceeds south to the Gulf of California, lies some of the most intensely farmed land. The Yuma area is a breadbasket for the U.S., just like the Central Valley. Thomas M. Smith, Rick’s father, on far left in this 1946 picture. Yuma beekeeper, Thomas M. Smith had the largest beekeeping operation in the world at one time in the 1960s. 38 Almond Facts MAY | JUNE 2012
of many issues challenging agriculture today: water, pest and pesticide issues, worker exposure, endangered species, urban sprawl, and pollinator habitat and protection — to name a few. The biggest threat to Smith’s livelihood as a beekeeper was bee mortality due to pesticide exposures. But, being a farmer, he knew products were necessary to protect his crops and those of his neighbors. So he embarked on a campaign to get farmers and Pest Control Advisors (PCAs) talking together with beekeepers about the pests they needed to control, the products they used and why those products were the best options. During these conversations, beekeepers shared information about bee behavior, flight patterns and flower visitation habits for particular crops. Growers, beekeepers, PCAs and applicators began to cultivate an understanding of one another. Keeping in mind the desire to make the best choice among registered pesticides for a target pest, chemical company representatives were consulted and field trials ensued. Pesticides with short residuals were given primary consideration. Next, timing of pesticide applications was discussed. Ground and aerial applicators talked face-to-face with beekeepers about particular instances where crops were in bloom, foraging by bees was underway and colonies were located in close proximity to the field. Application of both fungicides and insecticides were discussed. Increased communication between growers, applicators and beekeepers sowed seeds of change. Night application of fungicides and insecticides became more commonplace. The use of bee repellant products was sometimes incorporated in a pesticide application. These were two solutions that allowed growers to achieve their need for pest control while at the same time improving bee safety. Chemical company representatives assured growers that night applications of pesticides in many cases were found to be more effective due to lower temperatures and pest behavior. Improvements occurred. This cooperative approach allowed growers to get the pest control they needed while at the same time beekeepers’ losses were reduced. Growers did not choose a fungicide or insecticide based solely on cost, while at the same time, beekeepers realized a few dead bees were acceptable as long as there was no brood or queen loss. Now, instead of donning a bee suit and heading to work, Smith finds he is putting on a business suit more and more to promote the Yuma Success Story. Every cause needs a champion and Smith champions bee safety in a positive way. “Bees need protection, not just during crop pollination, but 365 days a year,” he aptly states when talking about his mission. “Statements like ‘You can’t’ and ‘I have a right to …’ have been replaced with ‘Let’s try this’ and ‘We can make this work.’” What is the take-home lesson of the Yuma Success Story for almond growers? In prior Almond Facts “Bee Box” columns we have talked about the importance of good communication with your beekeepers up to and during almond pollination. The Yuma example reminds us that we should consider bees not just during almond pollination, but whenever we need to apply a pesticide application in our orchards. The Yuma Success Story incorporates pollinator safety in Integrated Pest Management programs. Almond growers have been leaders in environmental stewardship and in methods of Integrated Pest Management. Insuring we take that one step further to think about honey bees year-round, will give us healthier bees during the growing season and into fall, and thus, a more plentiful and reasonablypriced bee supply coming through the winter. The Yuma example isn’t just about farming in “the sunniest city in the USA,” as Yuma likes to promote itself, but also give us the brightest hope for year-round honey bee stewardship. MAY | JUNE 2012 Almond Facts 39
Page 1 and 2: MAY | JUNE 2012 News, Views & Indus
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS May | June 2012 p.30 Featu
Page 5 and 6: Tell those mites to kiss your... Re
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Page 20 and 21: CORNERING THE MARKET Take Me Out to
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