Hi Kim,
Do you have a sense of the shift in the incorporation of bumble bees
over or in conjunction with honey bees in commercial agriculture, or
specifically in apple production, over the past ten years?
There appears to be a number of producers in the Hudson Valley that
are using bees from companies such as Koppert ( www.koppertonline.com
) to help in pollination of early flowering apple varieties and
pears, since these bees seem to be more active in cooler weather.
We too have seen less aggressive activity of honey bees in the mid to
upper Hudson Valley but to the south (Warwick, NY) the activity was
very strong earlier in the week.
Peter
Wasps and yellow jackets do essentially no pollination....they may
visit a flower on occasion, but because they have essentially no
hair on their bodies, they don't pick up and transfer pollen from
one flower to another; nor do they return to their nest with pollen
on their bodies and get it transferred inhive to another bee who
will vist another apple blossom. There are solitary bees that are
efficient pollinators, but seldom are there enough of them in an
orchard to make a significant dent....unless they are brought in
intentionally...the Blue Orchard bee, the mason bee...those that are
managed specifically for this purpose.
Kim Flottum
Editor, BeeCulture
623 West Liberty Street
Medina, Ohio 44256
V - 800.289.7668 Ext 3214
Fax - 330.725.5624
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.BeeCulture.com
--
Peter J. Jentsch
Extension Associate
Department of Entomology
Cornell University's Hudson Valley Lab
3357 Rt. 9W; PO box 727
Highland, NY 12528
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone 845-691-7151
Mobile: 845-417-7465
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/faculty/jentsch/
