Copyright, 1999 Permission granted to copy and/or distribute (with attribution/homelinks), for educational purposes. For other uses, contact the author.

Pollination Planning: Notes and Resources for Fruit Growers January, 1999
by David L. Green

Growers who wait until the last minute may lose out, when it comes to pollination of their fruit crops. As pollinator populations continue to decline, and fruit plantings become larger, pollination planning is increasingly important in your total crop management. It is a tragedy to do everything else right and lose, because poor pollination is the limiting factor. And yet pollination is a relatively inexpensive input. I have seen growers use pheromonal sprays to "attract" bees that aren't there, when they could have added more bees for less cost.

Dr. Malcolm Sanford says in his keystone paper: Pollination - the Forgotten Agricultural Input: "Unfortunately, much agricultural research has focused on the role of other inputs such as fertilizer, water, cultivation and insect control. In the process, that concerning pollination has often been relegated to the back burner. The myth seems to have been perpetuated that pollination would somehow take care of itself. This increasingly seems to be a misguided philosophy."

His paper should be read by every farmer, extension agent, IPM advisor, produce dealer, anyone involved in fruits and veggies. It is available on the internet at:
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/papers/ALTPOL.HTM#2

THE BIG NEWS THIS YEAR - THE AFRICAN HIVE BEETLE

This introduced pest probably came into the US at Savannah or Beaufort, SC, though it was first identified in Florida. Samples taken earlier (but unidentified til later) and beekeeper observations indicate it has been in Georgia and southern SC longer than in Florida. It has spread through flight and beekeeper movement. It has been confirmed in four states and is likely present in others. It has proven to be a devastating blow to the European races of bees, though it is considered a minor pest to African bees. Perhaps the time has come to import the gentle africanized bees bred and bragged on by Brazillian beekeepers. They have lived with, and come to admire, the so-called "killer" bees, over the past thirty years. These bees are extremely vigorous and hardy against disease and parasites.

(European bees have been kept for thousands of years. Beekeepers who wanted to harvest honey used to kill the hive, and it was natural to kill the ones that stung your kids every time they walked by. The selective breeding was in favor of a gentle bee. Central African bees have never been kept until modern times. They were robbed by humans and honey badgers. Only those who could drive off the robbers could survive, so their selective breeding was in favor of fierceness. The Brazilians have been breeding these bees in favor of gentlenees, and, with modern techniques, can condense thousands of years of natural selection into a short time.)

The present (emergency) solution for the hive beetles is the Section 18 approval, in four states of the new coumaphos strip, produced by Bayer. More info is available at:
http://entweb.clemson.edu/caps/pestalrt/smhvbt/smhvbt.htm

You will be hearing a LOT more about this pest. So far there are no indications of any quarantine plans........

COMMON POLLINATION PROBLEMS

Surprisingly, there are still fruit growers, and even some extension agents, who do not recognize the symptoms of inadequate pollination. Often times the only difference between fancy fruit and bag apples is the seed count, which anyone can quickly do. Slice the apple crosswise and count the seeds. There are normally five seed pockets with two seeds each. Count only fully developed seeds. It should be the goal to get 7 to 10 seeds in every apple, so that it can develop to its maximum potential.

Growers should become alert to symptoms of poor pollination with every fruit. Excessive June drop with apples is another sign of possible pollination problems. Again, an examination of the seeds in the developing apples is diagnostic.

You'd think, with all the information available from nurseries, that pollenizers would be fully considered. I recently became aware of an organic farm that planted a solid block of Empire apples. They have about 40 hives of honeybees permanantly situated on one end of the orchard. The block is several years old, and had a good bloom last year, yet has not produced a marketable crop of apples. The beekeeper was puzzled, as he saw good bee activity, and good production on a nearby blueberry planting. I told him to make sure they had bouquets of crab apples or other pollenizers this spring, and to graft or plant pollenizer varieties for a permanent solution.

Empire apples, being an offspring of Red Delicious, are among the harder varieties to pollinate. I believe the sizing problem, so often seen in Empires is frequently a symptom of inadequate seed count, ie. poor pollination. Pay careful attention to pollenizers and to pollinators.

Another common problem is not setting the apple king bloom. Growers, following an old extension shibboleth, do not want the bees in until there is already bloom. But the sheer logistics of moving so many bees, causes them to miss the king bloom. When the king bloom is set, spray thinning is easy. Or it may not even be necessary at all, because the king suppresses the other blossoms. The next three blossoms are nearly equal and spray thinning is a major headache, if all of these set. Fruit growers don't usually recognize this as a pollination problem, but it is. It's better to get the bees in a week early than a day late. The problem of bees "preferring" dandelions to apples is more of an indication of weak hives than preference. Now, pears are a different story.....
For more info on apple king bloom, etc.: http://www.pollinator.com/page6.html

Despite the publicity about varroa mites and african hives beetles, pesticide misuse remains one of the most significant reasons for pollinator decline, whether by directly killing off bees, or by driving beekeepers out of business. Fruit growers continue to violate label directions and kill bees through two primary ways. First, by "jumping the gun" on petal fall applications. Some old extension recommendation call for petal fall sprays at 3/4 drop, which is a recommendation of misuse. I don't know of any current cases of this (should be prosecuted!) but there are old manuals around.

The other common misuse situation is with poor orchard floor management. Clover and other blooming weeds are allowed to be present in orchards and attracted bees get poisoned. Remember any fruit grower that poisons bees, any time, any where, is biting the hand that feeds him.

MCGREGOR'S "BIBLE" NOW ONLINE

Dr. Sam McGregor's 1976 USDA manual on pollination of cultivated crops, long out of print, is now available online through the courtesy of Bee Culture magazine:
http://www.airoot.com/beeculture/book/index.html

Remember that the research indicated conditions before the great pollinator crashes of the past generation from pesticide misuse and new parasites and diseases. The work badly needs updating to account for the lack of wild pollinators.

SOLITARY BEES

These bees are sometimes hyped as replacements for honeybees, while common sense would implement them as supplements, at least until the cultural technology is much more established. They have their own diseases and parasites, and concentration for pollination tends to amplify problems. Two are being cultured and used for fruit are the orchard mason bee and the Japanese hornfaced bee. Probably the major difference from the fruit grower's perspective, is that the hornfaced bee is adapted to a bit more southerly range.

Info on solitary bees, by Dr. Karen Strickler can be obtained on the internet at:
http://www.uidaho.edu/pses/Pollination_ecology.htm

The Logan Bee Lab also has a lot of info on solitary bees
http://www.loganbeelab.usu.edu/

DEADLINE REMINDER
Generally the deadline for orders at solitary bee suppliers is about February 1, because these must be shipped in cold weather. Don't wait until spring!

Here is a newly revised list of those who offer orchard mason and Japanese
hornfaced bees.
http://www.uidaho.edu/pses/Strickler/SolitaryBees/supply.htm

BUMBLEBEES ANYONE?

Bumblebees are available and extensively used in greenhouses, but are too expensive for orchard use and it's hard to get them built up early enough.

Carpenter bees (often mistaken for bumblebees) are hated by many homeowners and killed at every opportunity, because they drill small holes in wood to make their nests.
Though the damage is normally only cosmetic, and they are valuable early
pollinators, they have been just about eradicated in some areas. Protect bumble bees and carpenter bees as much as you can.)

GROWERS KEEPING HONEYBEES?

I can count on my hand the number of growers who *successfully* keep honeybees for their own pollination. There are two major problems. The biggest is that the bees demand the most intense management in the spring, when a fruit grower is already at his busiest time. Another, is that it has become increasingly necessary for northern commercial beekeepers to be migratory, or at least have a southern connection for spring replacements. This is just too much for most growers.

Honeybees can provide honey for your fruit stand. Unfortunately they do sting, which
generations of folks have accepted and lived with, but the present generation
does not, so you have to plan around this.

I cannot really recommend grower-kept honeybees. I remember one neglected apiary on a fruit farm, where the state inspector burned 46 of 54 hives, because of foulbrood disease. That represents a long period of serious neglect. The farm employee that was designated to take care of the bees, had minimal training, and kept being yanked to other jobs when the bees needed attention.

Have you talked with your beekeeper yet? You should at least get in tentative orders in January, to be sure of bees in the spring.

If you do keep honeybees, do it right! Here are some good sources of information:

An online course in beekeeping is available from Dr. Keith Delaplane at the
University of Georgia:
http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/b1045-w.html
He also has the Georgia Pollination Guide
http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/b1106-w.html

Crop pollination in the north - Bee Pollination of Ohio Crops, Dr. Larry
Conner
http://ohioline.ag.ohio-state.edu/b559/index.html

The best beginner book on honeybee keeping, Cornell Press:
The Beekeeper's Handbook by Diana Sammataro, Alphonse Avitabile, Roger A.
Morse. Diana's Home Page: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/d/b/dbs8/

Bee Culture: a good magazine for hobby and commercial beekeepers.
Available on their website - subscription info, some archived articles, in the magazine -
current beekeeping info on varroa mites, african hive beetles, pollination, and many other
topics of interest, plus ads for bee and equipment suppliers.
http://www.airoot.com/beeculture/index.htm

Hive plans, if you wish to build your own equipment: It is important that you
use standard sizes. Plans are available, as well as other beekeeping info, at:
http://birkey.com/BLB/index.html

SEARCH ENGINES

You can find a lot of pollination information by using the internet search engines, but often onsite engines will give you more. Try any of the land grand university search functions. Some of the better ones are Michigan (Dr. Hoopingarner (retired now) was a prolific writer on pollination, Florida (thankfully we still have Dr. Sanford), Georgia (Dr. Delaplane is one of the most promising young people in the field), California (at Davis), North Carolina and NY (Cornell)

Dr. Mayer (Washington) has written a lot of good stuff, which is accessible from the Good Fruit Grower search engine: http://www.goodfruit.com/
Also try The Virtual Orchard's engine: http://virtualorchard.net/

POLLINATOR LISTS

A western list of available pollination beekeepers can be found at Luckiamute Bee:
http://members.aol.com/beetools/
We have a basic list for eastern US, to be posted soon at:
http://www.pollinator.com
Please check back in a couple weeks.

(If you are in the eastern US and in urgent need, please contact me by e-mail. I can usually help put you into contact with a beekeeper pollinator. We are available in SC only, for fruit and cucurbit pollination.)

SOME OTHER VALUABLE INTERNET LINKS

Pollinators are one of the most important environmental issues of today
Forgotten Pollinators - a campaign to save our pollinators:
http://www.desert.net/museum/fp/

Bee Gardens by Dr. Stephen Buchmann
http://198.22.133.109/na/bgardn.html

Bibliography and internet links on Native Bees
http://www.anet-chi.com/%7Emanytimes/page29.htm

Research on pollinators goes on at the Tucson Bee Lab.
Visit G.E.A.R.S. award winning site at at http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/


THE NEXT GENERATION OF POLLINATORS

There is a big push among garden groups to try to "attract" bees. I've been telling them; If the bees aren't there, better to put your energy into attracting beekeepers.
Encourage a young person in the neighborhood to take it up. Insist that your local extension office provide a beginner beekeeping course. Involve 4-H clubs, scouts (the Boy Scouts have discontinued the beekeeping merit badge from lack of interest, just when young beekeepers are desperately needed). Fruit associations, garden clubs, birding groups, conservation groups, should all have beekeeper promotion on their agenda.

SUE-HAPPY AMERICA

Lots of city folks are moving into agricultural areas. They move because they like the character of the area. But then they find out that manure stinks and bees sting, and they start trying to "sanitize" the area, to make it more like suburbia. A young couple from the city has moved a doublewide to a site about 1/8 mile from one of my bee yards. They call me every time they see a bee (or a yellow jacket), and demand that I remove the bees. I hate to lose the yard, because it is the kind of bee yard that is very difficult to find: one that I can drive into after three inches of rain, and one that has a huge forage area of hardwood swamp that has not been logged off. They are threatening lawsuit.

The best protection, of course, against lawsuits, is to be on welfare. The farmers, beekeeper, and small businessmen, (the *producers* of America) are extremely vulnerable. They can quickly lose everything they worked for. If you can get "Right to Farm" laws in your area, be sure beekeepers (specialized farmers) are included.

A FINAL NOTE

Any seedman or nursery that sells you a plant to pollinate, or calls a plant a
pollinator is confused. BEES POLLINATE; PLANTS POLLENIZE. A plant cannot be a
pollinator and a bee cannot be a pollenizer. These terms are as precise and
different as uterus and ovary. How much would you trust a gynecologist who
used these terms interchangeably?

I am thinking of publishing a list of nurseries and seedsmen who are clear on this, and those archaic ones who "don't know from nuthin'!" Some extension writers, particularly in the south, are also prone to call plants "pollinators."

(See Brooke Peterson's comments on apple and pear pollenizers:
http://www.goodfruit.com/archive/1995/8col.html There are also a couple good nurseries with comments on pollenizers at:
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html)

A good example is Johnny's Selected Seeds (not to pick on only one
seedsman), which is offering a percentage of POLLINATORS with some of their
cucumber seeds. I recently asked them, if they really meant that they were
offering pollenizers (plants to provide pollen), and told them that the
primary pollinators for cucumbers were honeybees. They refuse to change the
catalog, so I can only conclude they are offering bees to do the job. Their
web catalog is at http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
The standard way to mail order honeybees is in three pound packages, shipped
by US mail. This is a very generous offer indeed. Ask them if they really
mean this!


Come by the pages below for much more info.
And please patronize the "sponsor", Jan's shop, which would be a nice way to offer thanks for the info.

Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA
The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
The Pollination Home Page: http://www.pollinator.com

Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm

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