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Hemp Corridors and Micro-Decorticators: Cultivating a Sustainable Future

Hemp Corridors and Micro-Decorticators: Cultivating a Sustainable Future

Hemp, a versatile and eco-friendly plant, is poised for a resurgence. One innovative approach gaining traction is the concept of Hemp Corridors – dedicated zones where small-scale hemp farms collaborate to create a robust and sustainable hemp ecosystem. These corridors, coupled with mobile micro-decorticators, offer a promising path towards environmental rejuvenation, economic revitalization, and a strong sense of community.

Environmental Impact:

  • Land Remediation: Hemp thrives in various soil conditions, including degraded land. Cultivating hemp corridors can help clean contaminated soil through a process known as phytoremediation, where plants absorb and break down pollutants.
  • Carbon Sequestration: Hemp is a champion carbon sink, absorbing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Widespread hemp cultivation within corridors can contribute to mitigating climate change.
  • Biodiversity Promotion: Hemp cultivation fosters healthy ecosystems by attracting beneficial insects and promoting soil health, leading to increased biodiversity.

Economic Benefits:

  • Job Creation: Hemp corridors create opportunities for new jobs in farming, processing, and product development. This can revitalize rural economies and provide income diversification for local communities.
  • Localized Production: Hemp corridors promote local processing and value addition, reducing reliance on long-distance transportation and minimizing the industry’s carbon footprint.
  • Sustainable Materials: Hemp offers a sustainable alternative to traditional materials in various industries. Hemp corridors can create a reliable source of these eco-friendly materials, boosting the green economy.

Community Building:

  • Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Hemp corridors foster collaboration among farmers, processors, and other stakeholders. This knowledge exchange strengthens the community and paves the way for innovation.
  • Transparency and Traceability: By operating within a defined corridor, the origin and processing of hemp can be transparently tracked, fostering trust and responsible practices.
  • Empowerment and Social Cohesion: Hemp corridors empower local communities to take control of their economic and environmental destiny. This fosters a sense of shared purpose and social cohesion.

The Hemp Nation Group’s Investment:

The Hemp Nation Group (HNG), a leader in open-source hemp development, envisions a future with a fleet of 10 mobile micro-decorticators serving a network of hemp corridors. Micro-decortication is the initial processing step, separating the hurd (inner woody core) and fiber from the hemp stalk. This crucial step allows for further processing into a variety of products.

Investment Estimation:

While the exact cost can vary depending on factors like size and features, a single mobile micro-decorticator can range from €3,750 to €4,550. Therefore, The Hemp Nation Group’s investment in a fleet of 10 micro-decorticators would be approximately €37,500 to €45,500, not included the maintenance-, training- and transportscosts.

Open-Source and Automation:

HNG’s commitment to open-source development extends to micro-decorticators. By sharing knowledge and collaborating on design improvements, the cost of these machines can be reduced, making them more accessible to small-scale farmers and processing cooperatives.

Conclusion:

Hemp corridors and mobile micro-decorticators offer a compelling vision for a sustainable and thriving hemp industry. The Hemp Nation Group’s investment and commitment to open-source development are a testament to their leadership in this transformative movement. By prioritizing environmental well-being, economic empowerment, and community collaboration, hemp corridors have the potential to cultivate a brighter future for all.

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A fascinating new study is bringing together hemp and bees.

Hemp production in the U.S. continues to, quite literally, grow year after year. In 2019, there were 511,442 acres of licensed hemp across the country. And at the same time as the hemp expansion, bee colonies across the country are experiencing a rapid and alarming decline. According to Greenpeace, honey bee hives are experiencing a thirty to fifty percent decline.

But at the intersection of these two seemingly unrelated news stories, sits an opportunity. As per a recent study out of Colorado, bees and hemp could be the future. Turns out that bees love hemp flowers. And no, these bees aren’t creating honey from cannabis resin (except potentially in honey by a French beekeeper). Instead, they are using hemp as a stop gap measure to get ready for the winter.

Hemp goes into flower just as most other flowering commercial crops have stopped. So, could hemp help feed struggling bees with a supply of pollen heading into winter?

hemp and bees represented by hemp plants flowering

The Study on Bees and Hemp

In 2019, Biomass and Biology [1] published, “Bee diversity and abundance on flowers of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.).” Scientists took to the fields of Colorado to assess bee diversity and abundance within experimental hemp crops. Using specialized traps set throughout the field, researchers collected samples between August 4th through September 9th, 2019.

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Throughout the study, they collected nearly 2,000 bees from twenty-three different bee genera. They also pulled hundreds of other species of insects, some of which are also essential pollinator species. Approximately eighty-six percent of the insects they collected were bees.

Many of the bee species categorized in the study were from ground-nesting and solitary species, but the most common bee collected was the Western Honeybee (Apis mellifera). This bee lives in community hives. Perhaps not surprising as there were active commercial bee operations within the nearby area for use among other crops (sunflowers, canola).

The team had a few theories as to why there was an abundance and wide diversity of tiny pollinators. They wrote, “We hypothesize that the presence of plants that shed large amounts of pollen could be the attractant, in addition to the possibility that the study was conducted in a region where agriculture is intensive, and there may have been fields with sunflowers and cucurbits nearby.” Furthermore, “Hemp begins flowering when other mass flowering crops have completed blooming, making it an excellent pollen resource for bees.”

Why Bees Need Hemp

Until recently, the relationship between bees and hemp crops was relatively unstudied. Hemp flowers represent an opportunity for bees to continue collecting pollen to feed new larvae. This, just as other crops wrap up the flowering cycle. The majority of common commercial crops in the U.S. do not require pollination by insects (relying on wind instead), but that doesn’t mean that bees don’t take advantage of the situation.

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Corn is the most common crop in the US, with nearly 90 million acres planted on an annual basis. As such, it is a valuable pollen source for bees (even if it doesn’t require insect-assistance with pollination). But, corn generally finishes flowering by mid-July, leaving massive areas of the mono-cropped country with no flowers, and therefore, no pollen for bees.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported there were two million acres of canola across America in 2019. Flowering varies from region to region but generally wraps up by early August at the latest.

The authors of the study in Biomass and Biology theorized, “Hemp can thus be an ecologically valuable crop whose flowers are attractive to managed honey bees and a wide range of wild bees. In addition, access to crucial phytochemicals through pollen and nectar from diverse plant sources is important for improved survival and pathogen tolerance in honey bees.”

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With the established value of hemp as a pollen source for bees, researchers are investing in the study of nutrient-density. They also want to know if any of the pharmacologically active compounds help these bees fight off pathogens and disease during the long winter months.

The Seasonal Habits of Bees

The majority of U.S. crops that require insect pollination rely on dedicated commercial bee colonies, but there are hundreds of native solitary bee species as well. The following is a summary of the seasonal habits of the Western Honeybee, the most commonly used commercial bee species.

Spring

In the spring, with the warming temperatures, a dormant colony wakes up and seeks early-blooming species of flowers for nectar and pollen. This kick starts colony expansion, where the queen increases drone and egg production, and the colony’s population explodes.

Summer

When midsummer temperatures are hottest, the hive population is pushing the limits of its space, building new combs, producing more beeswax, and laying more eggs. The colony may swarm, spawning new colonies.

Following a swarm, the remaining bees get busy preparing for winter, even though it is still mid-summer. They focus their efforts on the collection of as much nectar and pollen as possible. They also put honey away for the long winter months. It’s at this stage where hemp may provide a significant boost to their collection efforts.

Fall

Just as honeybees are turning their attention towards food storage, hemp is coming into full bloom. Considering hemp flowers well into fall, a hemp field could offer the honeybee a final big boost of pollen. Pollen doesn’t go into the production of honey (the winter food source for bees), but it does go directly to feeding larvae. Even if hemp is naturally nectar-poor, it could help bees boost colony numbers before the winter months.

hemp and bees represented by bees busy around hive

Hemp is One Part of the Solution for Bee Population Decline

While hemp won’t solve the crisis of the great bee die off, it offers a bridge between the end of commercial crop flowering and the winter. Bees still need a viable source of nectar in August, September, and October. Commercial crops don’t facilitate this.

But, hemp offers hope for bees. Combined with other efforts, like those outlined by Federal Pollinator Health Task Force, it provides a piece to the complicated puzzle of pollinator decline.

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