In a message dated 1/18/99 1:40:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
> What kind of crops in NY State are
> commercial beekeepers pollinating?
Ho Boy! There's a long list.
Just about all tree fruits require bees. Apples, pears, plums, cherries,
peaches. I know beekeepers that have done them all. There is a mythology among
some growers that sweet cherries and peaches don't need bees; that they are
"self-pollinating." Some are self fertile, but that's a different matter, and
smart growers put in bees.
I knew one cherry grower that put in bees and got a good set before a
frost killed a lot of the bloom. The frost didn't affect him near as much
because his were already pollinated, so he had a good crop, while many other
growers had practically nothing. The Michigan crop also failed that year, so
prices were about 50 cents a pound.
He had a violent thunderstorm move through and broke up a lot of the
trees, just before harvest. He had crews in there picking off the chrries from
the limbs laying on the ground. I made some kind of remark about it, because
sour cherry growers rarely use hand labor, and normally would not bother with
broken limbs anyway. He said, "Well, you are looking at a million-dollar crop,
this year."
A lot of slicer cukes are grown in the western part of the state, and
these require bees. Pumpkins and squash..... I know of one Amish grower who
actually gets a crop of cantaloupe most years. He's an expert at it, and does
use a lot of bees for his market farm. Hmmm, strawberries, blueberries,
blackberries.......
Ask around, and I'll bet you'll turn up some specialty crops, too. Or
maybe you won't, because the beekeeper who does them, does not want
competition from other beekeepers.
[log in to unmask] 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
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