• madapiarist@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    That’s a temporary nuc box for live bee sales. Noone takes these to pollinate crops. Once they are done pollination, the grower might not care anymore, but the beekeeper certainly does. They either move on to another crop or return home to produce honey.

    • dudeami0@lemmy.dudeami.win
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      1 year ago

      Every field I’ve been in has these boxes distributed for pollinating. From the product page:

      There is no need for box returns and frame exchanges when cardboard nuc boxes are a fraction of the cost of wooden nucs.

      So it’s sold as a bonus that this does not need to be returned, so it’s common enough practice. I know they are suppose to be used to seed new boxes, but farmers generally don’t care. They want the flowers pollinated, the bees will probably die from the pesticides so no use in worrying about them.

      Edit: There is an article from the guardian on the harmful conditions bees endure on almond farms. I am near smaller farms, so maybe this practice (of using nucs to pollinate) is not as wide spread as I thought. Regardless, bees are routinely mistreated in various agricultural settings.

      • madapiarist@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        They might look similar, but they are not. Hives are graded and a 4 or 5 framer nuc wouldn’t make the cut. Growers don’t buy bees for pollination, they rent them. And yes, they are sometimes damaged by careless pesticide application.