I have a Williams Murcott myself, but I'll never get a seedless fruit from it with all the other citrus out there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090109/ap_on_bi_ge/farm_scene_bees_vs_tangerines


Grower Chris Lange holds a W. Murcott mandarins which have seeds due to unwanted bee pollination Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 in Woodlake, Calif. During discussions seeking a compromise, beekeepers suggested mandarin growers should net their crops to keep out bees. Mandarin growers asked beekeepers to reduce hive density so bees do not have to fly far to compete for food. Someone suggested using pepper spray to deter them. Both sides said no.
(AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

Tangerine growers tell beekeepers to buzz off

By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press Writer Tracie Cone, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 9, 6:31 am ET

FRESNO, Calif. – Is it trespassing when bees do what bees do in California's tangerine groves?

That is the question being weighed by state agriculture officials caught between beekeepers who prize orange blossom honey and citrus growers who blame the bees for causing otherwise seedless mandarin oranges to develop pips.

"Both sides are unwilling to give any ground, and both have valid points," said Jerry Prieto, the former Fresno County agricultural commissioner who has spent six months mediating the dispute.

The fight comes amid a worldwide consumer taste shift toward seedless grapes, watermelons and tangerines — at the same time the nation's struggling bee colonies look for winter food.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is scheduled to issue draft regulations this month that will require beekeepers to register their locations with county agricultural commissioners by March 1 so growers can monitor hives within two miles of their groves. If bees are too close, growers can ask beekeepers to move and hope they comply.

"But they won't have to move," said Rayne Pegg, deputy secretary of legislation and policy for the CDFA.

Absent a method of resolving disputes, Prieto predicted: "This is going to end up in court."

Mega-grower Paramount Citrus has already sent letters to beekeepers near the company's Kern County clementine groves threatening legal action and promising to seek "compensation for any and all damages caused to its crops, as well as punitive damages" if seeds develop. Company officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The new regulations would affect Kern, Tulare, Fresno and Madera counties in the southern San Joaquin Valley, where many orange growers converted to easy-to-peel tangerines. The fruit's California acreage was expanded from 24,000 in 2005 to 31,392 in 2008 to compete with imports from Spain and the Middle East.

Tangerines and other normally seedless mandarins do not need bees to move pollen from the male to female parts of the flower in the process known as pollination. But if bees cross-pollinate the crop with the pollen of other fruit, mandarins develop undesireable seeds.

Almond trees on the west side of the valley, on the other hand, need lots of bees to pollinate. For the February pollination season, almond growers hire beekeepers from around the country to bring tens of thousands of hives to California, home to 70 percent of the world's supply.

As almond blossoms drop in late March, citrus growers say, beekeepers relocate hives to make orange blossom honey before heading to the Midwest for spring clover season.

Some growers, who by law must ban spraying for citrus mites and other pests when bees are present, say the bees are an increasing burden.

"We've coexisted with them, but we don't need them," said Joel Nelson, executive director of California Citrus Mutual, a trade association. "Now we're trying to adapt to changing consumer demands, and we're hamstrung."

Beekeepers say that, with development in the state's agricultural regions, there already are a limited number of places to take the bees for feeding.

"Our winter losses are increasing (because of colony collapse), and part of the problem is finding places to put bees where they have access to natural food, and citrus is part of that," said Gene Brandi, a Los Banos beekeeper and legislative liaison for the California State Beekeepers Association.

Chris Lange, a grower from Woodlake in Tulare County, recently converted 32 of his 1,600 acres of citrus groves on Beresford Ranches to the more profitable mandarin oranges, which he will start harvesting at the end of January.

"We already have an idea of where we'll find the seeds," said Lange, lamenting that most of his crop could wind up as juice. "You can't grow the crop for the juice market, you have to grow for the premium crop or you won't recover your costs."

During discussions seeking a compromise, beekeepers suggested that mandarin growers net their crops to keep out bees. Mandarin growers asked beekeepers to reduce hive density so bees do not have to fly far to compete for food.

Both sides said no.

"The ag industry is being forced to weigh which side should have a stronger case," said Pegg, of the agriculture department, "and that's a difficult thing for us to decide. We're just not going to make anyone happy."

___

On the Net:

California Department of Food and Agriculture: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/

Paramount Citrus: http://www.paramountcitrus.com/

California Citrus Mutual: http://www.cacitrusmutual.com/

California State Beekeepers Association: http://www.californiastatebeekeepers.com/

(This version CORRECTS grower's name to Paramount Citrus, instead of Paramount Farms).)

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Local-citrus-growers-want-beekeepers-to-buzz-off/Cwht5DIX8kWpvxM_CTuJuQ.cspx

Local citrus growers want beekeepers to buzz off

Last Update: 1/14 10:10 pm

Some growers say they are feeling the sting of bees cross-pollinating trees and causing seedless fruit to grow seeds. But local beekeepers say some of Kern's biggest farmers are pushing them out of valley and hurting their bee business.

The beekeepers say growers already pushed their bees away from all of the citrus groves in southern Kern County. And now Kern's largest farmers want to create a two-mile bee-free zone around their seedless fruit.

Beekeepers say less citrus for their bees means less orange honey, fewer places for the bees to feed, and in the end, less money.

“We probably make half of our money from pollination services and the other half from honey. And citrus, or orange honey, is a major, major part of that,” said local beekeeper Bob Shultz.

But farmers are trying to create the two-mile “no-fly zone" because they say the bees are cross-pollinating their seedless fruit, such as mandarins. And when the bees cross-pollinate, the fruit grows seeds, and consumers don't want to buy it.

John Gless owns Gless Ranch. He says last year many of his groves were ruined. All he wants, he says, is beekeepers to stay away from his seedless fruit.

“We can come up with some sort of a guideline where they stay certain miles away where we don’t have the Clementines and mercots,” Gless said.

Gless say he wants to work out a compromise with beekeepers by letting them place hives near all of their citrus, except the seedless groves.

But local beekeepers say seedless groves are popping up all over the San Joaquin Valley leaving his bees with little room to swarm and his business little room to grow.

The debate has become so heated, there is now pending legislation. The California Bee Association says it is waiting for the Department of California Food and Agriculture to propose solutions for the problem sometime this month.

http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616&ArticleID=48141&TM=60250.37

Bee, mandarin decision may wait for bloom
Feb. 1 deadline not as important as comments, CDFA spokesman says

Cecilia Parsons
Capital Press

Seedless mandarin growers are waiting to see how the state will resolve an ongoing dispute between producers and beekeepers, but say that resolution will miss a deadline set by law.

The growers claim the bees have caused cross-pollination between their fruit and seeded varieties, resulting in reduced profits.

Sometime in February, California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura is expected to issue a draft of rules designed to keep the bees away from the seedless oranges. Because that draft is then subject to a mandatory 45-day public comment period, the final resolution may come too late for any changes before mandarin trees bloom and are once again vulnerable to cross-pollination by the bees.

The long-simmering dispute between mandarin growers and beekeepers led to 2007 legislation that called for formation of a Seedless Mandarin-Honeybee Coexistence Working Group.

The group, made up of growers and beekeepers, was charged with coming up with an agreement that would protect seedless mandarins from bees that carry pollen from seeded varieties of citrus and cause seeds to form in the fruit. The rights of beekeepers to place hives was to also be protected.

The group had a deadline of June 2008 or the matter would be settled by CDFA. The law called for a rule to be in place by Feb. 1 so both sides would have time to adapt, but CDFA spokesman Steve Lyle said the need for a comment period was more important than meeting the deadline.

Growers blame honeybees for carrying pollen from seeded varieties of citrus to their seedless varieties, causing the fruit to develop seeds. One or two seeds in every few pieces of fruit are acceptable, but multiple seeds in large numbers mean lower prices for growers.

The citrus industry has also sought to limit the number of hives placed near vulnerable citrus plantings. Beekeepers have been adamant about their right to place hives where permission is given or on their own property.

In the past several years the problem has grown because of the number of hives coming into the state for almond pollination. Many remain in the state and are placed near citrus for honey production. Acreage of seedless mandarins has also grown.

Beekeepers have argued that restricting the placement of hives seriously affects the bees' ability to forage for natural food - critical for hive health.

Last year, growers who could foot the $1,300 per acre cost for netting covered their trees to keep bees out. Still, some growers lost crop value due to seeds.

California Citrus Mutual President Joel Nelsen said nearly a third of the Clementine crop was downgraded due to seeds.

David Krause, president of Paramount Citrus and a member of the working group, said there was no consensus reached by the group on rules that would protect seedless mandarins and the rights of beekeepers. Each member did send his thoughts on the issue to the secretary, he said. "This is in his hands and the law said a decision would be made by bloom time," said Krause.

Paramount, which grows thousands of acres of seedless mandarins in Kern and Tulare counties, did net some acreage, but not all, said Krause. Their W. Murcott harvest began Jan. 20 in Kern County.

Jerry Prieto Jr., former agriculture commissioner in Fresno County and appointed mediator for the working group, agreed there was no consensus reached between citrus growers and beekeepers, but they did forward some joint recommendations to CDFA.

Those asked that citrus growers register their seedless mandarin acreage and beekeepers register their hive placings with the county by specific dates. With that information, growers can contact beekeepers and ask that they move during bloom. Beekeepers would not be obliged to move.

Nelsen said the main request from the citrus industry - reducing hive density - has been turned down by beekeepers. University of California research suggests a half-hive per acre density would be feasible, he said. Citrus trees do not need pollination services, so hive numbers are not critical.

That request was turned down by CDFA, Nelsen said, because the full work group did not endorse it. Meanwhile, both sides are waiting to hear Kawamura's decision.

Beekeepers tend their hives in this file
photo. Many beekeepers in the San Joaquin
Valley have long-standing agreements to
place bees in citrus groves each spring and
have vowed to resist efforts to keep them out.

http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=785&ArticleID=48563&TM=52743.14

2/5/2009 9:53:00 AM

Beekeepers told to buzz off
Mediator predicts that dispute may soon go to court

By TRACIE CONE
Associated Press

FRESNO, Calif. - Is it trespassing when bees do what bees do in California's mandarin orange groves?

That is the question being weighed by state agriculture officials caught between beekeepers who prize orange blossom honey and citrus growers who blame the bees for causing otherwise seedless mandarins to develop pips.

"Both sides are unwilling to give any ground, and both have valid points," said Jerry Prieto, the former Fresno County agricultural commissioner who has spent six months mediating the dispute.

The fight comes amid a worldwide taste shift toward seedless grapes, watermelons and tangerines - at the same time the nation's struggling bee colonies look for winter food.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is scheduled to issue draft regulations this month that will require beekeepers to register their locations with county agricultural commissioners by March 1 so growers can monitor hives within two miles of their groves. If bees are too close, growers can ask beekeepers to move and hope they comply.

"But they won't have to move," said Rayne Pegg, deputy secretary of legislation and policy for the CDFA.

Absent a method of resolving disputes, Prieto predicted: "This is going to end up in court."

Mega-grower Paramount Citrus has already sent letters to beekeepers near the company's Kern County clementine groves threatening legal action and promising to seek "compensation for any and all damages caused to its crops, as well as punitive damages" if seeds develop. Company officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The new regulations would affect Kern, Tulare, Fresno and Madera counties in the southern San Joaquin Valley, where many orange growers converted to easy-to-peel tangerines. The fruit's California acreage was expanded from 24,000 in 2005 to 31,392 in 2008 to compete with imports from Spain and the Middle East.

Tangerines and other normally seedless mandarins are self-pollinating. But if bees cross-pollinate the crop with the pollen of a seeded orange, lemon or grapefruit, mandarins develop undesirable seeds.

Almond trees on the west side of the valley, on the other hand, need lots of bees to pollinate. For the February pollination season, almond growers hire beekeepers from around the country to bring tens of thousands of hives to California, home to 70 percent of the world's supply.

As almond blossoms drop in late March, citrus growers say, beekeepers relocate hives to make orange blossom honey before heading to the Midwest for spring clover season.

Some growers, who by law must ban spraying for citrus mites and other pests when bees are present, say the bees are an increasing burden.

"We've coexisted with them, but we don't need them," said Joel Nelson, executive director of California Citrus Mutual, a trade association. "Now we're trying to adapt to changing consumer demands, and we're hamstrung."

Beekeepers say that, with development in the state's agricultural regions, there already are a limited number of places to take the bees for feeding.

"Our winter losses are increasing (because of colony collapse), and part of the problem is finding places to put bees where they have access to natural food, and citrus is part of that," said Gene Brandi, a Los Banos beekeeper and legislative liaison for the California State Beekeepers Association.

Chris Lange, a grower from Woodlake in Tulare County, recently converted 32 of his 1,600 acres of citrus groves on Beresford Ranches to the more profitable mandarin oranges, which he will start harvesting at the end of January.

"We already have an idea of where we'll find the seeds," said Lange, lamenting that most of his crop could wind up as juice. "You can't grow the crop for the juice market, you have to grow for the premium crop or you won't recover your costs."

During discussions seeking a compromise, beekeepers suggested that mandarin growers net their crops to keep out bees. Mandarin growers asked beekeepers to reduce hive density so bees do not have to fly far to compete for food.

Both sides said no.

"The ag industry is being forced to weigh which side should have a stronger case," said Pegg, of the agriculture department, "and that's a difficult thing for us to decide. We're just not going to make anyone happy."