# going rate for pollination of Alfalfa going to seed



## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

It has been a while since we have pollinated Alfalfa, I have a corporation farm asking for 200 colonies. June 1 to end of July. I am familiar with all the spray issues. It has been a good 10 years since we have pollinated.


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## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

I think I was told $38 2 years ago in California. The beekeeper was having terrible issues with sprays and keeping his numbers up over the last few years. It did not seem like a worthwhile job... to me. The issue being what else was he to do with them? I cannot answer that for others but it is not something I would want given choices I have here.

Jean-Marc


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Anyone and I mean anyone who falls for the short sided gains of Alfalfa seed pollination is a blame fool IMO. I would not do it for $1000 A HIVE. I love my bees to much. About the only thing worse one could do is pour gas on them and set them on fire..... Pretty much the same results. 

If you decide to play the fool be a wise one. Make sure your contract includes a very large clause about them replacing all the dead outs that appear from the time you show up till the last day of December with a reimbursement rate of at least 5x with fresh Florida singles delivered on February 1 to the place of your choosing.


For all you newbies looking to make a quick buck in bees........... Be aware that this is the wrong way to go at it. Like Russian roulette with 7 bullets in the six shooter........:ws:


For anyone who wants to know my real feelings on this subject please PM me your email address......Glad to share the unedited version for those who can not read between the lines.


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## sharpdog (Jun 6, 2012)

This spray risk is news to me, they dont run to seed around here very often. What are they spraying for? What causes all the damage? Also, i thought honey bees were poor polinators of alfalfa? Any insights would be great.


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## LSPender (Nov 16, 2004)

50 to 60 per hive. more if they set in middle of field.


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## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

Thank you all. Honey for all, looks like you have had some bad experiences with Alfalfa, Been there done that and agree with you. 60 just isn't enough to recoup the losses from Neonic poison. I told them when they called I was not intersted. Corp indicated they would be doing a great deal of spraying with two different Neonics. They were wanting leaf cutter bees plus honeybees. When I did pollinate alfafa several years ago, honey bees did a pretty good job of pollination at 4 to 5 colonies per acre.


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## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

They would be spraying fo alfalfa weevil and threps.


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Ok, here we go. I have my own bees on my own alfalfa that I seeded myself. I don't have a bug problem here so insecticide was sprayed. I can tell you with 100% certainty that I have not had any problems with the "neonics" that came with the seed.


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## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

That is good to here that you have had no effects. I am assuming you are talking about seed that Neonics were applied on. How well did they go through winter? My area the alfalfa was going to be sprayed at two different times during the process with air craft. Whole different world.


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

James, knock on wood, I don't have any unexpected losses overwintering outside. The next six weeks will be prime time for hive losses.


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

How big is the honey crop that comes off an alfalfa field that is going to be used for seed? My hives can easily pull 30+ pounds per colony from first bloom to cutting (3 - 6 days) from a small 20 acre plot, and that is a late bud/early bloom scenario. I have talked to people who use leafcutters for their alfalfa pollination and they also allow honey bees primarily for a honey crop.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

rwurster said:


> How big is the honey crop that comes off an alfalfa field that is going to be used for seed? My hives can easily pull 30+ pounds per colony from first bloom to cutting (3 - 6 days) from a small 20 acre plot, and that is a late bud/early bloom scenario. I have talked to people who use leafcutters for their alfalfa pollination and they also allow honey bees primarily for a honey crop.


How big of a honey crop does one need to offset the ultimate need to conduct a hive funeral caused by the kiss of death being applied to a hive in a field of Alfalfa where the numbers of hives is about equal to the number of applications of nasty chems? 

100 pounds? 200? 5000?

As noted previously the perils involved in alfalfa seed pollination among the beeks ( including myself) that I know is so great that even a huge crop of lets say 200 lbs would hardly offset the issues involved in the long term survival of the hive.

Until the pollination reimbursement is equal to the price of a "throw away" pollination unit the whole idea of even considering scraping a few bucks off the bottom of a barrel of Cyanide is insane.


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Rwurster I would guess the average would be 70 lbs. honey bees would rather work easier plants that alfalfa. A big factor is the weather. Too cold, no nectar. Too dry no nectar.


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## James Kellie (Oct 30, 2010)

At 4 to 5 colonies per acre you are not going to make much honey at all. There is great abundance of nectar at the beginning. Bees gathering nectar soon learn to stick their tongue in the side to gather nectar but the pollen gathers must trip the pod to get the pollen. Once the pod is triped it no longer secretes nectar. Thus quickly it becomes a place of dearth. Farmers will not release the bees for about 6 to 8 weeks so the colonies begin to go through what honey they have stored, Pollen becomes scarce and the bees start going backward. Not to near disater but you can certainly tell it is time to get them out of there. Most serious seed producers also have leaf cutter bees in the field as well which makes nectar flow shuting down even faster. Add to that the modern day problems of mites, virus, and insecticide, the bees hardly make it.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

My statement in #3 above "I would not do it for $1000 A HIVE" isn't to far from a starting price in the negotiations. If they get you down to $750 with 100% prepaid just walk away from the equipment and let the hatchetman who hire the spray planes clean up the burn pile material when the shout "bring out your dead"


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

I knew an old beeman who took bees to Nevada alfalfa seed. Got sprayed majorly by the grower. Before he could recover from the shock of that , the same grower sued him for breach of contract because of no pollination!

Every instinct I have has always told me to stay the H away from summer pollination deals.Make the money someplace else.Keep the bees alive.


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

I guess I have been fortunate to have 45 hives sitting on about 10,000 acres of irrigated alfalfa fields. Last year I pulled almost 2 tons from them during the month of July alone. Granted there is some sweet clover mixed in along the river but not as much as I'd like. This location is on Native American tribal lands and from what I'm told they don't spray anything because of the costs involved. I have never seen anyone spray anything there. I am not sure about the seed source but over the last 5 years I have only had one hive out of all of them that showed signs of pesticide kill. They generally get 5 cuttings a year letting the last crop seed out. Last year at times the bees had a field day because it was too wet for them to harvest in a timely manner. The honey is light, mild flavored and secrets freely.


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