If honeybees die off can hemp replace alfalfa as cow feed if, alfalfa can't pollenate?

Question

i had read that article on if the honeybees die off it would be horrible for our fruiting crops. yet the cow aspect was interesting and i had heard of hemp being an important useful grain.

Answer 1

Hemp seed is used in birdfeed, but I have never thought of it as a real substitute for feed grain.  Clover is valuable as cattle feed because of its high nitrogen (and protein?) content - hemp does not have this same quality.  Hemp is usually valued for its fiber content, not its food value.

There are many pollinators besides honeybees,  e.g., wild bees and some moths.  I agree that loss of honeybees could be devastating for commercial fruit crops and many other crops.  We very much need to understand what is going on with honeybees and why they may be declining.  Whatever is adversely affecting honeybees may be hurting humans or other species.  But honeybees are a domesticated species, and they can be bred to be resistant to many adverse influences.  The real questions involve (1) the economic effects of honeybee losses (food prices could go up!), (2) how effectively alternative pollinators can fill the void  created by honeybee losses, and (3) whether honeybees will "evolve" through survival of resistant strains, and (4) whether we have adequate genetic stocks to allow breeding of "better bees" or alternative domestic pollinators.