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<div class=Section1>
<h1><span class=blox-headlineentry-title><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal'>Thanks to Laurie
Davies Adams for forwarding the below article. Also available at <a
href="http://www.theprairiestar.com/news/crop/bees-produce-tremendous-hay-harvest-in-montana/article_73e41a02-1f53-11e0-82cf-001cc4c002e0.html">http://www.theprairiestar.com/news/crop/bees-produce-tremendous-hay-harvest-in-montana/article_73e41a02-1f53-11e0-82cf-001cc4c002e0.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></span></h1>
<h1><span class=blox-headlineentry-title><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></span></h1>
<h1><span class=blox-headlineentry-title><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:24.0pt'>Bees produce tremendous hay harvest in Montana</span></font></b></span>
<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.theprairiestar.com/news/crop/bees-produce-tremendous-hay-harvest-in-montana/article_73e41a02-1f53-11e0-82cf-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=image&photo=1"
title=Beekeeping><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300
height=297 id=img-holder src="cid:image001.jpg@01CBB3D9.6092CE20"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=story-timesdtstamp><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Posted: Thursday, January 13, 2011 2:13 pm | <span
class=updated><i><span style='font-style:italic'>Updated: 9:46 am, Fri Jan 14,
2011. </span></i></span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By TERRI ADAMS, The Prairie Star<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This year
a tremendous hay harvest has filled feed yards with more hay than usual.
Livestock producers often attribute the lush hay crop to the abundance of rain,
but they forget that bees also made those hay bales possible.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bees
pollinate alfalfa fields across the west and, in order to keep up with the
blossoming plants, the tiny pollinators worked long and hard this summer.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Though
2010 harvest yields are not yet finalized, last year <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Montana</st1:place></st1:State> hives produced over 10 million
pounds of honey and ranked fourth nationally in honey production.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Yet,
according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in <st1:State
w:st="on">Montana</st1:State>, farm and ranch lands that support bees are
disappearing across the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
at the alarming rate of 3,000 acres a day. Furthermore, some farming practices
make it more difficult for bees to pollinate the crops.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The NRCS
reports that managed honey bee colonies have shrunk by 25 percent since 1990,
and there are fewer bee hives in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> than at any time in
the past 50 years. Habitat loss, excessive exposure to chemicals, the spread of
diseases, parasitic mites, and the invasion of African honey bees are commonly
cited as the causes of what has been called an impending pollination crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Most
producers, however, don’t pay much attention to the tiny bees unless they
are stung by one while working, but pollinators play a vital role in
agriculture.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“Bees
are important to everyone and not just for the honey. They pollinate 30 percent
of all that we eat and directly affect the meat and dairy market,” said Bill
Dahle, who owns Big Sky Honey in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Fairview</st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">Mont.</st1:State></st1:place>, and has been in the honey
business for 30 year.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Because
of their role, every bale of alfalfa or clover hay exists because bees
pollinated the blossoms. Legumes, which are growing as a rotation crop in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Montana</st1:place></st1:State>, also need the
industrious insect. Properly pollinated fields are healthy and productive. Thin
fields may not need more chemicals. They may need more bees.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>According
to the NRCS, there are things producers can do to ensure their fields will
attract bees for optimum harvests.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Don’t
disturb bee nests found in pastures, dead wood or near fields.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>If
possible, plant pollinator friendly crops such as clovers, alfalfa, trefoils,
and other legumes. Not only do they enrich and protect the soil, but they are
pollinator favorites.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Use
conservation buffers. When planting hedge rows, windbreaks and other buffer
zones, consider using plants attractive to pollinators. The NRCS offers several
programs to provide prime habitat for pollinators through contour strips,
grassed waterways, hedgerows, stream buffers, filter strips, and windbreaks.
These plantings can also be located within the field that needs the services of
pollinators.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Let
plants bloom. Try to time mowing, tilling, or grazing management decisions so
that plants have the opportunity to bloom. While alfalfa hays may be optimum at
the onset of bloom, consider leaving a strip or two in full bloom to keep bees
working the fields.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Read
pesticide labels. They will list bee toxicity and residual time.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>More than
75 percent of the crop plants that feed the world, and many plant-derived
medicines, rely on pollination by insects or other animals for healthy fruit
development<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The NRCS
conservation programs can help farmers and ranchers increase the number of
pollinators on their lands by reducing direct exposure of pollinators to
pesticides. They also help producers protect critical nesting sites and food
sources for beneficial insects and pollinators and restore pollinator friendly
practices at the farm. Furthermore, NRCS programs can also help farmers
implement reduced tillage practices. That is important since many native bees
live in the soil.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Opening
fields to commercial beekeepers will also promote healthy crops and may result
in some free jars of home-grown honey at the end of the season.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>So, as
producers open those nutritious green bales of hay this winter to feed their
cattle and horses, they can thank the bees of summer who through an
extraordinary season right along side the producers.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Pollinator Partnership and the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign
and its partners, NRCS, the USDA Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management,
and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, have a free 24-page booklet that
will help producers understand how to work with pollinators on their farm or
ranch. It is can be downloaded at <a href="http://www.pollinator.org/">http://www.pollinator.org/.</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=story-keywordsmoz-border><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Posted in <a
href="http://www.theprairiestar.com/news/crop">Crop</a> on <em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">Thursday, January 13, 2011 2:13 pm. Updated: 9:46 am. </font></i></em>|
Tags: <span class=blox-icon-tag-link-story-container><a
href="http://www.theprairiestar.com/topic/?q=bees&t=&l=25&d=&d1=&d2=&f=html&s=&sd=desc&s=start_time">Bees</a>,</span>
<span class=blox-icon-tag-link-story-container><a
href="http://www.theprairiestar.com/topic/?q=big%20sky%20honey&t=&l=25&d=&d1=&d2=&f=html&s=&sd=desc&s=start_time">Big
Sky Honey</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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