Argentine beekeepers no longer in clover

By Helen Popper CHIVILCOY, Argentina (Reuters) - Beekeepers had it easy when cattle roamed freely across the flower-filled meadows of Argentina's Pampas plains. But a boom in soy farming has changed all that. The legendry prairies have fast become one of the most efficient swathes of cropland on Earth, leaving little room for wild flowers and leading beekeepers in the world's No. 1 honey exporter to move their hives and even sow their own flowers. "They say that wherever the cow goes, the bee follows ... They live in harmony and both benefit from flowers. But things have changed," said Patricio Crespo, a vet and beekeeper from the town of Chivilcoy, a typical Pampas town that lies some 100 miles from the capital, Buenos Aires. "It's a shame and it's sad, not just for beekeepers," he added. Fields of soybeans, corn and wheat... [read full story]