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How critical are bees to the pollination process of crops? They're by no means the only pollinators around.

Corn wouldn't be affected at all, for a start, being wind pollinated. Isn't that true of most of the grasses?

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu Mar 29th, 2007 at 06:02:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There are other pollinators, and not all crops need assistance. But if these important pollinators bees go away, the agricultural scale might suffer. The food won't be all gone, but 6 billion people could be way too many suddenly.

And then we must talk about mounting consequences of "unintended" consequences. If you intend nothing but a quick profit, that is what you get.

by das monde on Thu Mar 29th, 2007 at 06:13:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, I think that grasses (corn, wheat,...) are all wind pollinated. For bee-pollinated plants, however, I gather that the alternatives to bees are often disastrously poor.

I just looked up info on the other huge-tonnage crop: Soybean plants are self-pollinating, auto-incestuous creatures.

Words and ideas I offer here may be used freely and without attribution.

by technopolitical on Fri Mar 30th, 2007 at 02:19:05 AM EST
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