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All the major staple crops are wind pollinated, not insect pollinated. The ultimate solution to this problem will be going back to a suite of native pollinator

All the major staple crops are wind pollinated, not insect pollinated. The ultimate solution to this problem will be going back to a suite of native pollinators rather than depending on non-native honeybees.

asmodeuslucifer 1y ago
[flagged]
- contravariant 1y ago
  I don't mind using AI to help gather information but did you even read this?
  - jawilson2 1y ago
    I just logged on for the first time in months to downvote this too. If HN is going to be full of threads of people reposting AI garbage slop I will quickly find somewhere else to...do whatever it is I do here. Keep your AI bullshit to yourself, I do not trust a word of ANY of it.
snarf21 1y ago
While fruits, vegetables and nuts can be pollinated by wind, that won't work at the scale and yields that our aggro-industrial complex needs. If it weren't required, almond growers wouldn't pay to have millions of hives transported to California each year to pollinate their trees.
- pfdietz 1y ago
  I said staple crops (which is relevant when someone is claiming that "bees die" implies "we all starve"). It would be very sad to not have insect pollinated crops, but it wouldn't be an existential disaster.
- gausswho 1y ago
  Aside from almonds what other crops are most bee-dependent?
  - snarf21 1y ago
    Blueberries, Cherries, Apples, Cranberries, Avocados, Melons, Cucumbers, Squash & Pumpkins are heavily dependent on bees but other crops use them too.
humblebeekeeper 1y ago
Are staple crops the bar though? Like, I love rice, wheat, and potatoes, but I would be real sad to not have all the vegetables that are not wind pollinated. We've survive, but I don't think that's the bar, imo.
- pfdietz 1y ago
  When someone claims "Bees die = we starve" then, yes, staple crops are the bar.
  - bluGill 1y ago
    Most staple crops are not bee polinated. Wheat is ant polinated (so I've been told by local naturalists who should have the background to know - others are claiming wind).
    - pfdietz 1y ago
      From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat "The flowers are wind-pollinated, with over 99% of pollination events being self-pollinations and the rest cross-pollinations.[6] " No mention of ants, and the reference [6] says "Normally at anthesis, the lemma and palea are pushed apart temporally (lasting for 8–30 min) by lodicules swelling, and the pollen dehiscences from anthers and falls on the ovary to accomplish fertilization (de Vries, 1971)."
firesteelrain 1y ago
Partially. Corn is the big one that requires wind or humans. Rest of the staples do not Potatoes and sweet potatoes are tubers. I started growing this year and learned a lot about it just from my backyard. No pollination For example cucumbers not staple nor are peppers. Cucumbers need a bee or insect to pollinate unless the type that doesn’t. But they are low in calories so not staple and more perishable

asmodeuslucifer 1y ago

[flagged]

contravariant 1y ago
I don't mind using AI to help gather information but did you even read this?
- jawilson2 1y ago
  I just logged on for the first time in months to downvote this too. If HN is going to be full of threads of people reposting AI garbage slop I will quickly find somewhere else to...do whatever it is I do here. Keep your AI bullshit to yourself, I do not trust a word of ANY of it.

snarf21 1y ago

While fruits, vegetables and nuts can be pollinated by wind, that won't work at the scale and yields that our aggro-industrial complex needs. If it weren't required, almond growers wouldn't pay to have millions of hives transported to California each year to pollinate their trees.

pfdietz 1y ago
I said staple crops (which is relevant when someone is claiming that "bees die" implies "we all starve"). It would be very sad to not have insect pollinated crops, but it wouldn't be an existential disaster.
gausswho 1y ago
Aside from almonds what other crops are most bee-dependent?
- snarf21 1y ago
  Blueberries, Cherries, Apples, Cranberries, Avocados, Melons, Cucumbers, Squash & Pumpkins are heavily dependent on bees but other crops use them too.

humblebeekeeper 1y ago

Are staple crops the bar though? Like, I love rice, wheat, and potatoes, but I would be real sad to not have all the vegetables that are not wind pollinated. We've survive, but I don't think that's the bar, imo.

pfdietz 1y ago
When someone claims "Bees die = we starve" then, yes, staple crops are the bar.
- bluGill 1y ago
  Most staple crops are not bee polinated. Wheat is ant polinated (so I've been told by local naturalists who should have the background to know - others are claiming wind).
  - pfdietz 1y ago
    From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat "The flowers are wind-pollinated, with over 99% of pollination events being self-pollinations and the rest cross-pollinations.[6] " No mention of ants, and the reference [6] says "Normally at anthesis, the lemma and palea are pushed apart temporally (lasting for 8–30 min) by lodicules swelling, and the pollen dehiscences from anthers and falls on the ovary to accomplish fertilization (de Vries, 1971)."

firesteelrain 1y ago

Partially. Corn is the big one that requires wind or humans. Rest of the staples do not Potatoes and sweet potatoes are tubers. I started growing this year and learned a lot about it just from my backyard. No pollination For example cucumbers not staple nor are peppers. Cucumbers need a bee or insect to pollinate unless the type that doesn’t. But they are low in calories so not staple and more perishable