Bees could cause seedy situation in California Mandarin groves
Bees could cause seedy situation in California Mandarin groves
Honeybees are usually considered welcome in fruit orchards. But their presence in Mandarin groves is a serious problem, according to Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, CA, a trade association representing the growers of more than 120,000 acres of citrus.
Clementines, Murcotts and other Mandarin varieties, which have been planted in increasing numbers in California in recent years, are popular not only because they are tasty and easy to peel, but also because they are seedless -- that is to say the marketplace expects them to be seedless.
But if honeybees visit other citrus varieties and then fly into a Mandarin grove, they cross-pollinate the Mandarins, and the fruit develops seeds. That drastically slashes the value of the fruit in the marketplace, growers have said.
The presence of large numbers of bees in the groves during the current bloom constitutes "the second treat this year to the state's seedless Mandarin industry," according to an April 5 CCM press release.
"While many of the state's Mandarin growers were hard hit in January by one of the more devastating freezes ever to hit California, honeybees visiting Mandarin groves this month in the San Joaquin Valley citrus belt could spell disaster for next year's crop," said Mr. Nelsen.
Seeds in next year's Mandarin crop resulting from cross-pollination to the current bloom will "eliminate any hopes growers have of trying to recover from the freeze," he said.
However, "there are not many things growers can do to keep bees from groves," according to the CCM press release. "They can turn away beekeeper requests to place hives on their property, but such denials will not keep bees away" because bees will fly five miles or more in search of nectar and pollen. It is a problem with no easy solution, Mr. Nelsen told The Produce News.
CCM, on behalf of the Mandarin growers, has tried to work out a compromise solution with the bee industry but has not received much cooperation, Mr. Nelsen said. "We've made a couple of suggestions to the bee industry," but the beekeepers have said no to all of them, he said.
One CCM suggestion was to move the beehives to different areas at least two miles away from the Mandarin groves "so that the bees would ... find other sources of food and nutrition," Mr. Nelsen said. While that would not keep bees out of the Mandarin groves altogether, it would "reduce the population" of bees in the groves to acceptable levels, he said. "But the beekeepers won't go for that."
He added, "They wanted us to pay for them staying away. That is like buying protection. We're not going to do that."
CCM has asked the California Department of Food & Agriculture "to coordinate a series of discussions to try to broker an agreement," but "the bee industry has said no to everything we suggested," he said.
The California Mandarin industry, which is still young and just beginning to develop some substantial volume, is "trying to take on offshore competition," primarily from imported clementines, and to "satisfy the consumer demand" for the fruit, he said. Seedlessness is a primary component of that demand.
Two or three seeds in two or three pieces of fruit in a carton is "acceptable," he said. "You don't get concerned about that." But heavy bee populations in the groves can cause "most of the fruit in the container" to have up to 10 or 12 seeds, and that is "a bad deal."
Growers "have put a lot of money into [planting the Mandarin groves], expecting some decent returns." If an amicable solution is not found, the growers "are going to get ticked," Mr. Nelsen said. "If it becomes a fight, it is a fight, and we go to the legislature."
Mr. Nelsen stressed that the industry is not trying to keep bees away from crops that require the bees for pollination, but citrus is not one of those crops.
"If our friends in the kiwi, melon or the stone fruit industry need the bees ... they get them." Nor is the industry trying to keep bees out of citrus groves altogether. "We are just trying to reduce the number" of bees in Mandarin groves to an acceptable level of risk, he said.
Phil Pierre, a citrus grower with groves in several locations in the Fresno and Madera areas, said that he first encountered the problem with bees creating seediness in Mandarin varieties back in 1999. In one case, a beekeeper was willing to locate his hives further from the Mandarin groves, "and it made a significant difference." That experience demonstrated that "we are seedless as long as we keep the bees away." It is "when you bring in these high populations it is a problem ... causing significant economic damage." It can cause an 80 percent reduction in the net value of the crop, he said.
Gene Brady, a commercial beekeeper in Los Banos, CA, and legislative chairman of the California State Beekeepers Association, told The Produce News, "I've been taking some of my bees to the citrus belt in Fresno and Tulare counties for about 30 years. There are many citrus growers in the citrus belt that still want bees on their property."
It is "a right-to-farm" issue, he said. "Those of us who have been keeping bees in the citrus belt for all these years are protected by the right-to-farm laws, and the growers who want the bees on their property, they are also protected by the right-to-farm laws. So having someone a mile or two away saying that you shouldn't have bees there is a clear violation" of those laws.
If the Mandarin industry is successful in getting legislation passed restricting commercial bee placements, "it would be very bad precedent," he said. "It would be tough to have a location of bees anywhere that wouldn't be in jeopardy of something."
Mr. Brady noted that the University of California has recommended that Mandarin varieties be planted "in solid block plantings in isolated areas. "The problem is that there are not that many areas" where the Mandarin varieties will grow, Mr. Pierre said. In general, "you need to plant those in traditional citrus districts, and that is where we get the cross-pollination problem."
Mr. Brady noted that every year, there are more than 300,000 colonies of bees placed in the area of the citrus belt, making it "the second-largest concentration of bees on a cultivated crop in the entire USA, exceeded [only] by almonds," which require bees for pollination. "It takes about 1.4 million managed bee colonies to pollinate the almonds in California," and as many as 800,000 colonies must be brought in from other states each year to do the job.
Other crops requiring bees for pollination are apples, cherries, "any kind of berry, all the melon crops and plums, he said. Peaches and nectarines may be helped by bees but are self-fertile and do not require them."
Clementines, Murcotts and other Mandarin varieties, which have been planted in increasing numbers in California in recent years, are popular not only because they are tasty and easy to peel, but also because they are seedless -- that is to say the marketplace expects them to be seedless.
But if honeybees visit other citrus varieties and then fly into a Mandarin grove, they cross-pollinate the Mandarins, and the fruit develops seeds. That drastically slashes the value of the fruit in the marketplace, growers have said.
The presence of large numbers of bees in the groves during the current bloom constitutes "the second treat this year to the state's seedless Mandarin industry," according to an April 5 CCM press release.
"While many of the state's Mandarin growers were hard hit in January by one of the more devastating freezes ever to hit California, honeybees visiting Mandarin groves this month in the San Joaquin Valley citrus belt could spell disaster for next year's crop," said Mr. Nelsen.
Seeds in next year's Mandarin crop resulting from cross-pollination to the current bloom will "eliminate any hopes growers have of trying to recover from the freeze," he said.
However, "there are not many things growers can do to keep bees from groves," according to the CCM press release. "They can turn away beekeeper requests to place hives on their property, but such denials will not keep bees away" because bees will fly five miles or more in search of nectar and pollen. It is a problem with no easy solution, Mr. Nelsen told The Produce News.
CCM, on behalf of the Mandarin growers, has tried to work out a compromise solution with the bee industry but has not received much cooperation, Mr. Nelsen said. "We've made a couple of suggestions to the bee industry," but the beekeepers have said no to all of them, he said.
One CCM suggestion was to move the beehives to different areas at least two miles away from the Mandarin groves "so that the bees would ... find other sources of food and nutrition," Mr. Nelsen said. While that would not keep bees out of the Mandarin groves altogether, it would "reduce the population" of bees in the groves to acceptable levels, he said. "But the beekeepers won't go for that."
He added, "They wanted us to pay for them staying away. That is like buying protection. We're not going to do that."
CCM has asked the California Department of Food & Agriculture "to coordinate a series of discussions to try to broker an agreement," but "the bee industry has said no to everything we suggested," he said.
The California Mandarin industry, which is still young and just beginning to develop some substantial volume, is "trying to take on offshore competition," primarily from imported clementines, and to "satisfy the consumer demand" for the fruit, he said. Seedlessness is a primary component of that demand.
Two or three seeds in two or three pieces of fruit in a carton is "acceptable," he said. "You don't get concerned about that." But heavy bee populations in the groves can cause "most of the fruit in the container" to have up to 10 or 12 seeds, and that is "a bad deal."
Growers "have put a lot of money into [planting the Mandarin groves], expecting some decent returns." If an amicable solution is not found, the growers "are going to get ticked," Mr. Nelsen said. "If it becomes a fight, it is a fight, and we go to the legislature."
Mr. Nelsen stressed that the industry is not trying to keep bees away from crops that require the bees for pollination, but citrus is not one of those crops.
"If our friends in the kiwi, melon or the stone fruit industry need the bees ... they get them." Nor is the industry trying to keep bees out of citrus groves altogether. "We are just trying to reduce the number" of bees in Mandarin groves to an acceptable level of risk, he said.
Phil Pierre, a citrus grower with groves in several locations in the Fresno and Madera areas, said that he first encountered the problem with bees creating seediness in Mandarin varieties back in 1999. In one case, a beekeeper was willing to locate his hives further from the Mandarin groves, "and it made a significant difference." That experience demonstrated that "we are seedless as long as we keep the bees away." It is "when you bring in these high populations it is a problem ... causing significant economic damage." It can cause an 80 percent reduction in the net value of the crop, he said.
Gene Brady, a commercial beekeeper in Los Banos, CA, and legislative chairman of the California State Beekeepers Association, told The Produce News, "I've been taking some of my bees to the citrus belt in Fresno and Tulare counties for about 30 years. There are many citrus growers in the citrus belt that still want bees on their property."
It is "a right-to-farm" issue, he said. "Those of us who have been keeping bees in the citrus belt for all these years are protected by the right-to-farm laws, and the growers who want the bees on their property, they are also protected by the right-to-farm laws. So having someone a mile or two away saying that you shouldn't have bees there is a clear violation" of those laws.
If the Mandarin industry is successful in getting legislation passed restricting commercial bee placements, "it would be very bad precedent," he said. "It would be tough to have a location of bees anywhere that wouldn't be in jeopardy of something."
Mr. Brady noted that the University of California has recommended that Mandarin varieties be planted "in solid block plantings in isolated areas. "The problem is that there are not that many areas" where the Mandarin varieties will grow, Mr. Pierre said. In general, "you need to plant those in traditional citrus districts, and that is where we get the cross-pollination problem."
Mr. Brady noted that every year, there are more than 300,000 colonies of bees placed in the area of the citrus belt, making it "the second-largest concentration of bees on a cultivated crop in the entire USA, exceeded [only] by almonds," which require bees for pollination. "It takes about 1.4 million managed bee colonies to pollinate the almonds in California," and as many as 800,000 colonies must be brought in from other states each year to do the job.
Other crops requiring bees for pollination are apples, cherries, "any kind of berry, all the melon crops and plums, he said. Peaches and nectarines may be helped by bees but are self-fertile and do not require them."
