• madapiarist@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      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.

      • madapiarist@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        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.