The farmers who don't want bee pollination

In another right-to-farm case (see earlier), this time in California, beekeepers are being asked to move colonies at least two miles from Paramount Citrus's seedless mandarin orchards because they don't want them to be cross-pollinated by bees. In response, some beekeepers claim that state law protects their right to continue their long-standing agricultural activity.

Two quotes sum up the problem:

“The close proximity of these bees to the property threatens to devastate Paramount's Clementine mandarin crop and cause substantial monetary damage,” Asch stated in the letter. “Clementine mandarins produce a large amount of seeds when bees are present and, in today's market, seedy Clementine mandarins yield only a small fraction of the price of seedless Clementine mandarins. Even a small number of seedy fruit can cause tremendous damage by not only damaging the affected fruit, but also making the remaining fruit suspect since it is impossible to tell which fruit have seeds and which do not.”

“We can't believe this is actually happening. At a time when bees are in such critical demand for almonds, we need to keep them healthy on a year-round basis so we can have them for almond pollination,” Brandi said. “We finally have a chance to get some good natural feed and we are being told we can't get it in some areas. So, it is really frustrating.”