In a message dated 97-04-11 09:29:20 EDT, [log in to unmask] (Julia and/or
Robert Biales) writes:
 
 
 
<< I'm a certified-organic gardener, will dormant oils and the like hurt the
 bees, too?>>
 
     It's highly unlikely.  Even if they WERE hazardous, you'll be applying
them, when bees are not present.
 
<< Right now I have strawberries under my trees and they'll be blooming at
 the right (wrong) time.  I'll be putting in a long alley of lindens just
 for the bees, will that be enough to keep them out of the orchard?  What
 do other people plant for bee forage?>>
 
   The bees will certainly help your strawberries, and should not be harmed
with organic fruit production.  Good luck!
 
   Lindens may perhaps keep the bees out of the orchard during their bloom,
which is much later than fruit. Of course you want to encourage them into the
orchard during it's bloom. Lindens make nice, minty honey, but you need quite
a few.  If you have a lot of dandelions, you might wish to mow them, when
fruit gets blooming to remove competition for pollinators.
 
   Most plants for bee forage are wild, since you need extensive acreages.
 If you have a significant amount of land, plant sweet clover, buckwheat,
canola, or most any legume to give the bees a good feed, and likely some
surplus to harvest.
 
 <<I want my bees primarily for polination, some honey and wax as bonuses
 for me.  I'm making skepts for them, Hungarian-style rather than
 ?Langstrom hives, on chains because bear are a big problem around here.
 Any other high-mountain beekeepers out there? >>
 
   In many states, you must have a special permit to keep bees in hives
without movable frames (skeps, box hives, or gums).  This is to make it
possible for the bee inspector to check for brood disease.
 
   I doubt chains will have much effect on bears, especially with skeps,
since a large bear can make kindling wood of a standard Langstroth hive.  If
you have them, you need a good electric fence.
 
   Come by the web page below for a short course on fruit pollination.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554        (Dave & Jan's Pollination Service,  Pot o'Gold Honey Co.)
 
Practical Pollination Home Page            Dave & Janice Green
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html