Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
way. When the flowers are out and the bees are needed, therefore, the colonies are often
weak as a result of neglect. Thus many farmers eventually give up keeping bees, and the
colonies are sold or are abandoned to form reservoirs of disease and varroa mites until
the wax moth finally destroys them.
I've seen this scenario so often, and that is why you, as a dedicated beekeeper are
needed. You take your bees in at the right moment and take them away again when
the job is done. The farmer makes their money from apples/pears/plums, etc., and you
make yours from your bees.
Why bees are good pollinators
Honey-bees are good at pollinating crops - indeed, they have been doing so for over 40
million years. They have hairy bodies that attract pollen with an electrostatic charge;
they recruit others to the flowers very rapidly and in large numbers because of their
communicative abilities; and they can be trucked in by beekeepers in their millions to
pollination sites (see Photograph 20 in the colour photograph section of this topic).
Pollination hives are at their best when they are stimulated to collect pollen, and that is
when there are plenty of unsealed brood. Very populous hives are needed with at least
two brood boxes, the bottom one of which should be full. There should also be slabs of
brood on about six or seven frames or more. The upper box should be well stocked with
brood, and there should be three or four combs of honey.
Consulting closely with the grower
Hives should be moved to the pollination site in close consultation with the grower,
who will probably need them at about the 10% flowering stage. For some crops that
give no nectar, such as kiwi fruit, it is best to move them in at this flowering stage in any
case because, if you move them in sooner, they may well go after other flowers and it
will be very difficult to re-orientate them to the crop you want pollinated. The grower
will probably want your bees until the very last flower has been pollinated. It is as
well, however, to move your bees out at the 95% flowering stage, well before any post-
blossom insecticides are sprayed.
