<div dir="ltr">Hi,<div><br></div><div>My blog on willows and bees available at : <a href="http://www.crops4energy.co.uk/src-willows-abundant-source-pollen-bees/">http://www.crops4energy.co.uk/src-willows-abundant-source-pollen-bees/</a> got a couple of responses on the Listserv and I wanted to respond to these. </div><div><br></div><div><div><i>1) A number of willows sold in nurseries are non-native species and become</i></div><div><i>pests as they grow with roots attacking sewer pipes or cesspools. Fallen</i></div><div><i>branches grow on as vegetative clones if they fall into water and are swept</i></div><div><i>onto wet sand bars and deltas. This includes our own naturalized, not</i></div><div><i>native, weeping willow (Salix babylonica).</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>My article mainly deals with the use of willow grown as an energy crop planted in dense plantations and managed as short rotation coppice (SRC). This involves mechanical harvesting every three years. Attached are some pictures of SRC. The crop is very neat and tidy when managed properly. Virtually all the varieties used in SRC breeding are shrub varieties or shrubby trees like S. discolor (not tree willows) so the pollen should be good. In most situations the land used is away from key services. Land drains may be affected but this is not a trait of just willow - other crops like maize and oilseeds also can root deeply and disrupt drains. </div><div><br></div><div><i>2) Many willows fail to secrete nectar in bloom. As you move further</i><br></div><div><i>north in latitude insect-pollinated willow species or ecotypes are replaced</i></div><div><i>by wind-pollinated species or ecotypes so no nectar. Some apiarists regard</i></div><div><i>willows as emergency pollen resources very early in late winter-spring when</i></div><div><i>hives become active before most plants are in bloom.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>This is why research is required. Certain willows are very attractive to bees and breeding programmes can help. SRC willows are being studies at State University of NY and Cornell. If there is abundant pollen and nectar at a critical time of year we should be trying to find this. There are not many silver bullets to deal with the bee issue - but this could be one!</div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>3) Do you have enough water to support your willows? A number of species</i></div><div><i>require saturated soils saturated throughout most of their active growth</i></div><div><i>cycle. This means they release more water vapor through their leaves every</i></div><div><i>day increasing ambient humidity. An oak on a stony hillside loses about</i></div><div><i>140 liters of water vapor through its leaves every day. A puny, little</i></div><div><i>fragile willow (Salix fragilis) most release 463 liters a day.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>Willows do like water but it's not essential. In the UK SRC is planted on ex landfill sites that are very wet in winter and dry as a bone in summer. The yields can be affected when water is scarce but they still grow better than most other trees. We are also looking at deploying SRC for other multifunctional benefits. The high water use of willow together with the coppice nature of the crops make them a cheap way of reducing flooding impact. If you need a cheap energy crop, flood defence and early pollen then SRC willows could be really beneficial.</div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>4) Messy and short-lived. The faster a tree grows, the faster it dies.</i></div><div><i> Most willows are short lived (<20 years) and you must be prepared to</i></div><div><i>remove dangerous dead wood and rotting-falling trunks during your life</i></div><div><i>time.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>I don't agree with the longevity of willows - certainly they live a lot longer in the UK. Also, as SRC is designed to be regularly harvested the mess issue is not valid. </div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>5) Out west, willow stems get infested by an invasive insect, the poplar and willow borer, and often keel over, creating a very messy bush.</i><br></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>The breeding programme at Cornell will no doubt be testing varieties robustly against all sorts of pests and diseases. As long as trials are conducted where this is a problem it should be able to combat this. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I think there is a great deal of potential to get energy and ecosystem services from willows as SRC. There is so much variation in the genus that we really should be trying to harness their many attributes. Please see the email from Jim Cane in Utah which provides a local view on the potential for willow. </div><div><br></div><div>Best wishes, Kevin. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Kevin- you bring to light an overlooked opportunity, and rightly recognize that willow species vary a good deal in their value (attraction) to bees, as I have found here in Utah (weeping willow and coyote willow get little visitation, Scouler’s willow and of course pussywillow attract Apis and all manner of native bees, incl. specialists. In general, label info with bees will only have “Salix” as they are a challenge to ID, but that is what we need to guide willow species selection. Here, we provided our Forest Service with a 3 page review with a promise of collaborative research, then silence. I have plated them at our lab to help tide over tree fruit bees (other than Apis) for years when frosts or mistimed emergence/bloom are problems.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nice work! I hope you get wider attention,<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Papyrus">Jim<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">===============================<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">James H. Cane<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 USA<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">tel: <a href="tel:435-797-3879" value="+14357973879" target="_blank">435-797-3879</a> FAX: <a href="tel:435-797-0461" value="+14357970461" target="_blank">435-797-0461</a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">email: <a href="mailto:Jim.Cane@ars.usda.gov" target="_blank"><span class="" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);background:rgb(255,255,204)">Jim.Cane@ars.usda.gov</span></a> <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">web page: <u><span style="color:blue"><a href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=18333" target="_blank">http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=18333</a><u></u><u></u></span></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">publications:<u><span style="color:blue"> <a href="http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/piru/" target="_blank">http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/piru/</a><u></u><u></u></span></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Gardening for Bees: <a href="http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/plants-pollinators09.pdf" target="_blank">http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/plants-pollinators09.pdf</a></span></p></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>-- <br><p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><b><span lang="DE" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(153,204,0)"><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span>Crops for Energy Ltd</span></b></p>
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