The Bee Beneath thee Bloom

While the Touchet area is known for its heavy alfalfa seed production, few realize that the most vital contributor to this success works behind the scenes: the alkali bee. However, to farmers like Stuart Byerley, they are an essential part of the alfalfa farming process. Byerley's connection to alkali bees dates back decades, beginning with his parents' introduction to alfalfa farming in 1961. His father noticed swarms of alkali bees clustering around a sub-irrigated river bottom near their field. Around the same time, other local farmers began to recognize the efficiency of alkali bees in pollinating alfalfa crops. Inspired by this discovery, the Byerleys decided to start their own alkali bee management journey. Byerley purchased his first bee bed 45 years ago from Albert Heitstuman. He estimates the bed to be roughly a half century old. What began for him as three cubic feet of transplanted nesting mate- rial has since expanded into three acres of meticulously maintained bee beds.

Similar to the leafcutter, alkali bees are solitary creatures. Each female has an individual nest consisting of a tunnel approximately half a foot deep that branches out into six to eight different dead-end cavities. After gathering nectar and pollen from nearby alfalfa fields, the female mixes the two to form a compact pollen ball, which is placed at the end of each cavity. Later, she will lay an egg on the pollen ball that will hatch within four to six days into a larva. The larvae grow quickly, reaching full size in eight days, but remaining dormant for up to ten months over the winter before becoming active as adults. Byerley estimates that during peak season, a square foot of bee bed can contain up to 100 larvae. Adult alkali bees live a little over a month, emerging in early June, males slightly earlier than females. When they first emerge midmorning, they are especially vulnerable: their wings are still damp from being underground, and so they must wait for them to dry before flying. This makes them easy prey for local birds. In the past, youth in Touchet were often hired to watch over the beds during this critical period, scaring away birds to protect the bees.

Currently, Byerley is renovating one of his older bee beds and shared the process with me. He first prepares the site by bulldozing it to level the ground, then

removes the top foot of soil to expose the clay base beneath, which the bees prefer for nesting. To keep the nesting environment moist, a PVC irrigation system is installed by trenching rows four to eight feet apart and laying perforated pipes within. Each pipe is wrapped in a fabric sleeve to prevent dirt intrusion. In early May, Byerley adds a layer of salt across the top of the bed. As spring arrives, the salt will be melted into the soil by the rain. This creates a moisture-retentive layer that discourages evaporation and prevents weed growth on the bed. One of the greatest challenges associated with alkali management is balancing the use of pesticides. Many chemicals that protect crops from pests can be devastating to the bees. In re- sponse to this problem, Byerley has developed a carefully timed approach to minimize harm: he applies necessary spray in May, before the bees emerge, and then waits until early July to apply a bee-safe pesticide called Beleaf. Designed to be non-toxic to alkali bees, Beleaf is applied only at night, further reducing any po- tential exposure. Following the second and final application in late July, the alkali bees naturally begin to die off, having completed

their critical role in the growing season.

The alkali bee may be tiny, but its contribution to alfalfa seed farming in the Touchet region is anything but small. Thanks to the careful stewardship of local farmers like Byerley, this unique native pollinator continues to thrive, and with it, the alfalfa fields that help define the region.