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Re: pollinators?

In a message dated 8/13/98 3:56:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, coneh@uswest.net
writes:

> Anybody got suggestions how to lure them over to the vine area?Someone once
>  suggested honey placed around the vines..Tried but failed to see
improvement
>  ..They just came when they were good and ready,and not before.
>  But I'd be willing to try any ideas given.

    Please!  Never place honey where bees can reach it. When bees pick up
honey, rather than nectar from flowers, they get into a frenzy. Beekeepers
call it robbing. It spreads disease and it will make the bees back at the hive
meaner than a snake. It could also get others in the neighborhood stung.

    To get the bees to work all the blossoms, you need a larger population. We
have the same problem in south Florida when the early watermelons bloom, just
as the citrus trees also blossom. We have to saturate the melon fields with
bees, because they much prefer the orange grove next door. If the population
is high enough, they will work ALL blossoms, not just the preferred ones.

    On the scale you are doing, it probably translates to your getting a hive,
either on your property or nearby. If you don't want to do it, try to
stimulate a young person in the neighborhood to do it as a 4H project. They
may go on to become serious beekeepers and be the pollinators for the next
generation.

Pollinator@aol.com     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
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