Blueberry Industry, Beekeepers Developing Bee-Protection Protocol
The Oregon blueberry industry is looking to become the fourth Oregon grower group to establish a bee-protection protocol in conjunction with beekeepers.
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Designed as a guide to avoiding problems with bee health while meeting the pollination needs of growers, the protocols have been the product of getting growers and beekeepers together and devising strategies that benefit both groups.
In relaying what other groups went through to hammer out protocols, Oregon State University Extension Pollinator Health Specialist Andony Melathopoulos said that in the meetings, growers learned about issues beekeepers face on a regular basis and beekeepers learned about issues growers face, an educational process that helped immensely when devising the protocols.
With the protocol for clover, for example, Melathopoulos said beekeepers learned about pest issues faced by clover growers and vice versa.
In developing the protocols for clover, Melathopoulos said the beekeepers were unfamiliar with issues growers were facing with the white clover seed weevil.
“They didn’t know that the clover growers were running out of products to control clover seed weevil and had a resistance problem,” he said during a presentation at the Oregon Blueberry Conference in Salem on February 6. “The growers in turn got to hear from the beekeepers about some of the problems that they are experiencing.”
As well as improving working conditions between beekeepers and growers, establishing a bee protection protocol can also build goodwill with regulators, Melathopoulos said. “The regulatory environment is getting increasingly restrictive. We need to build some goodwill and we should be getting credit for the stewardship,” he said.
"The regulatory environment is getting increasingly restrictive. We need to build some goodwill and we should be getting credit for the stewardship."
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Staying with the example of what clover growers did, Melathopoulos said the growers and beekeepers broke down the protocol to eight steps. First off, the steps involved having growers call beekeepers well before they are scheduled to bring in colonies and to wrap up any insecticide sprays if possible.
“That was the first thing everybody agreed to,” Melathopoulos said. “Most insecticides dissipate after four days, so getting those pesticides on four days before hand is almost always sufficient.”
Colony placement was another topic of concern. Beekeepers, for example, didn’t like placing colonies adjacent to highways, and preferred clumping colonies away from fields to avoid contact with insecticide treatments during bloom, treatments that at times are necessary. Also, Melathopoulos spoke of findings from research that showed there was no pollination benefit to spreading out colonies or placing them at the end of rows.
Colony removal was another issue established in the protocol for clover growers. “Growers want to work those fields, so getting those colonies out in a timely manner is important,” Melathopoulos said.
During his presentation, Melathopoulos also advised growers to check on colony strength. “We recommend that a few days after placement, you drive around and look at 25 percent of the colonies, and if you suspect you have dead colonies, just call the beekeeper.”
Melathopoulos also said if a grower notices a beekeeper is consistently bringing in strong colonies, the grower may want to reward the beekeeper.
Melathopoulos said he hopes the blueberry industry and beekeepers have the protocols ironed out by the fall. At that point, he plans to create a postcard that highlights the major protocols and that can be distributed to beekeepers and blueberry growers.