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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2007/04/07/blueberry_growers_prepared_to_pay_more_for_honeybee_pollinators/">http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2007/04/07/blueberry_growers_prepared_to_pay_more_for_honeybee_pollinators/</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<div align=center><!--
<headline>Blueberry growers prepared to pay more for honeybee pollinators</headline>
<source>Associated Press</source>
<teasetext>Maine blueberry growers expect to pay higher prices for honeybees to pollinate their fields this spring following a die-off of bees across the country.</teasetext>
<byline></byline>
<date>April 7, 2007</date>
-->
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src="cid:image003.gif@01C77A8F.A0AD1C40" align=left alt="The Associated Press"
title="The Associated Press" class=providerlogo border=0 v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"><![endif]><b><font
size=6 face="Times New Roman">Blueberry growers prepared to pay more for
honeybee pollinators<o:p></o:p></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>April 7, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>BANGOR</span></font></st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Maine</st1:State>
--<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>
blueberry growers expect to pay higher prices for honeybees to pollinate
their fields this spring following a die-off of bees across the country.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Maine</span></font></st1:State>'s blueberry crop
requires about 50,000 beehives for pollination each year, with most of the
hives brought to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>
from other states.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Spencer
Allen of Allen's Wild Maine Blueberries in Blue Hill said he usually imports
about 1,200 hives for 800 acres of crops.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Allen
said his bee wrangler's bees are doing OK, but the national shortage of
honeybee pollinators is causing prices to go up. The price he will pay has
risen from about $50 to $70 -- a jump of 40 percent -- for each hive placed
in his fields, usually in mid-May.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"That
adds up with 1,200 hives," Allen said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Commercial
beekeepers in 26 states have reported that they have lost between 50 and 90
percent of their bees to an unidentified disease. Scientists say the
country's food supply may be at risk if die-off continues unabated.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Maine</span></font></st1:place></st1:State>
beekeepers have several thousand hives that are kept in the state year-round
to pollinate apple orchards, strawberry fields and other crops. But there
aren't enough to cover <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>'s
60,000 acres of blueberry fields.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Marc
Plaisted of Pittston has raised honeybees for 20 years and supplies hives to
a dozen <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>
farmers for pollination.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>By time
mid-May rolls around, he thinks the price could be $90 or more per hive. Many
migratory bee keepers are being lured to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>, he said, where almond growers
are paying as much as $200 a hive.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But
Plaisted's bigger concern is making sure the disease doesn't come to <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We
aren't seeing this disease here yet, but I'm very concerned about the
migratory bees that are brought into <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>,"
he said. "Who knows what diseases they are bringing in here. If this
disease is not here by the end of summer, I'd be very surprised."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Nat
Lindquist of Jasper Wyman and Sons of Milbridge, one of the state's largest
blueberry companies, said he will import 10,000 hives from seven beekeepers.
Lindquist began monitoring the bee kill last fall when his largest supplier
began reporting empty hives in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pennsylvania</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>That
beekeeper has lost more than a million bees. The bees in 2,000 of his 2,900
hives have disappeared -- a 60 percent loss.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"He
has assured us that we will have plenty of bees," Lindquist said.
"We also want strong hives, and he has assured us of that as well."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Information
from: <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bangor</st1:place></st1:City>
Daily News, <a href="http://www.bangornews.com">http://</a><a
href="http://www.bangornews.com/" target="_new">www.bangornews.com</a> <img
border=0 width=6 height=8 id="_x0000_i1027"
src="cid:image004.gif@01C77A8F.A0AD1C40"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'>© <a
href="http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright">Copyright</a> <script>
var crYear = new Date(); document.write(crYear.getFullYear());
</script></span></font></span><span class=copyright>2007 The New York Times
Company</span><br>
<span class=small> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>Jennifer Tsang<br>
<a href="http://coevolution.org">Coevolution Institute</a><br>
<st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">423 Washington St.</st1:address></st1:Street>
5th Fl.<br>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94111-2339</st1:PostalCode></st1:place><br>
T: 415.362.1137</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>F: 415.362.3070</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'><a
href="http://www.pollinator.org">www.pollinator.org</a></span></font><font
color="#004000"><span style='color:#004000'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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