Subject: Garden Planning Deadline Close (Feb 1)
From: [email-masked] (Pollinator)
Date: 21 Jan 1999 03:41:14 -0500
Newsgroups: rec.gardens.ecosystems

Read and Consider in January to prevent problems in spring and summer (northern
hemisphere):

   Many gardeners, unfortunately leave pollination to chance. Some are lucky;
others suffer losses that would not be necessary, if they took some positive
steps. Some try to "attract" bees, which is an exercise in futility if the bees
are not there. Sometimes you have to put them there. Butterflies are valuable
pollinators for many wildflowers, but for fruits and veggies, you need bees.

   How do we know if pollination is lacking? There are many symptoms. Remember
that for most fruits pollination requires many bee visits (not just one) to
distribute enough pollen to fertilize most of the seeds. At fertilization of
the ovules (seeds) the chemicals are released to make the flesh of the fruit
grow, so you must have most of these fertilized to get full growth and maximum
sweetness.

    Some symptoms of inadequate pollination:
Apples, pears, most tree fruits: With good bloom, few fruits form, or they form
but drop before maturity. Fruits small, malformed and starchy, only 3-4 seeds
in pome fruits rather than 7-10.
Blueberries: Sparse set, or a lot of undersized berries.
Strawberries: Undersized berries, one undeveloped (green) side on a lot of
berries.
Brambles: Undersized berries, drupelet number is small, and center section of
berry does not form at all, flower parts remain at "maturity" in the center
bottom of the fruit. 
Squash, cukes:  Female blossom drop or fruit starts to grow, then molds and
drops off. (The mold is not the cause, it is an opportunist. Poor pollination
limits the development.) Fruit that curls excessively, or has an end or middle
that is undersized. Slow growth makes them tough.
Canteloupes:  Blossom drop. Undersized fruit that is not sweet.
Watermelons:  Blossom drop, Undersized fruit, necked or flat sided fruit. Lots
of white seeds.
Lima Beans: seeds missing in pods. 

   Basically, if you have honeybees, you have a nearby beekeeper. Wild
honeybees are just about gone from the US scene. Find out who he/she is, and do
all you can to encourage them. Share some of your produce; they are helping
make it possible.

   If you don't have honeybees, forget about attracting them, instead try to
attract a beekeeper. 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), garden clubs, etc.  

   Or become a beekeeper yourself. There are two kinds of bees that you can
keep. Solitary bees, such as orchard mason bees and Japanese hornfaced bees,
are gentle and good pollinators for spring blooms. They do not make honey and
they are worthless for later garden veggies. Honeybees are generalist
pollinators that are available year around, not just seasonally. They also
provide honey. 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.

   (Bumble bees and carpenter bees are important pollinators. Bumblebees are
available and extensively used in commercial agriculture, but are too expensive
for home gardeners. Carpenter bees 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.) 

SOLITARY BEE SOURCES

   Generally the deadline for orders 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

HONEYBEES

For honeybees, I recommend nucs from a local supplier, if possible. They will
get established and come on faster than package bees. (We sell nucs here in
South Carolina to local beekeepers, but nucs cannot be shipped.)  Many of the
larger beekeepers truck up loads of nucs from the south in the spring and they
usually will sell some of them to other beekeepers. But get your orders in
early! Many will be sold out by spring.

    If you cannot find nucs, then the package suppliers I have dealt with (and
can recommend) include: Wilbanks Apiaries, PO Box 12, Claxton, GA, 30417
912-739-4820, Weaver Apiaries, Rt 1, Box 260, Navasota, TX   77868-9704
([email-masked]),  (Weaver sells the Buckfast strain of tracheal
mite-resistant bees.) Wooten's Golden Queens 11189 Deschutes Rd. Palo Cedro, CA
96073  530-549-3555  (Wootens may no longer sell packages, but they have nucs,
and mighty fine queens.) Again, order early!

   Many northern commercial beekeepers, or beekeeping supply places also get
package bees in the spring. It is more reliable (and probably cheaper) to get
trucked in packages, than to get delivery by post office. They are generally
moved by someone knowledgeable, and they don't pick up traces of the
exterminators' sprays in the post office, or get left in a hot mailbox to cook.

OTHER VALUABLE LINKS

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

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

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

McGregor's Pollination "Bible"  All the relevant research on bee pollination of
cultivated crops (crop by crop) until 1976. This USDA manual needs revision,
but is still a valuable resource, now online through the courtesy of Bee
Culture magazine:
http://www.airoot.com/beeculture/book/index.html

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.

   A good example is Johnny's Selected Seeds, 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
have not responded, nor changed the catalog, so I can only conclude they are
offering bees to do the job. Their web catalog is at
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
This is a very generous offer indeed. The standard way to mail order honeybees
is in three pound packages, shipped by US mail. Ask them if they really mean
this!

[email-masked]     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

[email-masked]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html

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