March, 1999
By David L. Green
Commercial beekeeper
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.
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."
Every farmer, Extension agent, IPM advisor, produce dealer and anyone involved in fruits and veggies, should read his paper. It is available on the Internet at: http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/papers/ALTPOL.HTM#2.
Common 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 seven 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 permanently 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. 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 go to: http://www.pollinator.com/page6.html
Pesticide misuse
Despite the publicity about varroa mites and African hive beetles killing bees, 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 recommendations 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 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, anywhere, is biting the hand that feeds him.
New bee pest
A new pest called the African hive beetle has arrived in the U.S. that is killing beehives. The African hive beetle probably came into the U.S. at Savannah or Beaufort, S.C., though it was first identified 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 Brazilian beekeepers. They have lived with, and come to admire, the so-called killer bees, over the past 30 years. These bees are extremely vigorous and hardy against disease and parasites.
The Brazilians have been breeding these bees in favor of gentleness, 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.
David Green lives in Hemingway, S.C. and can be contacted by email at: pollinator@aol.com. His website is: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html.
The Fruit Growers News