In a message dated 95-06-20 00:51:36 EDT,       [log in to unmask] (Kim
Patten) wrote:
 
>For the past several years I have been evaluating methods to increase the
amount of pollen honeybees gathered off of cranberry bogs. This includes
sugar feeding, wave placement,  egg laying/brood > manipulation, pollen
removal, hive locations, hive numbers, QMP, use of complementary nectar rich
>plants etc.  Cranberry pollen is not all that attractive to honey
>bees and they will go out of their way to collect anything other than
>cranberry pollen.
 
>What has worked for other plants which honey
bee don't like such as onions or pears?
 
   I would be highly interested in the work you do.  Could I have a more
complete report?
 
   I am a commercial pollinator.  I'm no scientist, but I've paid some
tuition in the  *University of the Seat of the Pants*
 
    Kiwifruit is probably the hardest plant to pollinate that I've had any
experience with.  Sometimes competing vegetation is more attractive, such as
dewberries and tupilo while strawberries bloom, or oranges, during squash and
melon bloom.
 
   The basic principle that I have develped and use is to have the maximum
possible open brood.  This means young queens, with the colonies in the
upswing part of the spring buildup (if it isn't spring; it must be induced).
 In management for honey production you want the buildup to be ending just as
the flow starts.  In management for pollination, you want to have the colony
2-3 weeks earlier in the cycle.
 
    Do cranberries offer any significant nectar?  Are there other nectar
sources at the same time?  I have never worked cranberries. Is cranberry
pollen of good nutritional value or is it poor?
 
    I find that if there is a dearth of nectar the queens tend to shut down,
so syrup feeding is in order.  If there is a moderate nectar flow, syrup
feeding is redundant.  If there is a heavy flow, there is risk of storage in
the brood chamber, thus shutting down the queen.  There must always be some
open comb for the queen.  This is extremely important. If they start placing
honey in the brood chamber, it must be removed.
 
   There are several ways to stimulate the queen temporarily, other than
internal syrup feeding.  Honeybees seem to get a bit lethargic if there has
been no flow for a while, or after extremely hot weather.
Moving bees stimulates the queen, and thereby foraging activity.  I sometimes
trade locations on the pallet to jump-start them. It works.
Just opening the hive to check a frame or two for disease, also stimulates
the queen for a couple days.
 
   If the bees simply aren't going out much, a little syrup in pails with
pine straw to keep them from drowning can be placed a couple hundred feet
from the hives. I have seen a real jump-start with this from only a small
amount of syrup.
 
   Most of these methods I have used in cucumbers when the bees are already
there since the spring crop, and they have gotten real lazy during the summer
heat.  When the fall cukes start blooming, the bees ignore them, until I
jump-start them.
 
   If cranberry pollen is of low nutritional value, with little other pollen
to balance it, queens will shut down.  Supplemental pollen feeding may be
necessary.
 
   You already know much of what I'm discussing, but perhaps there might be
one idea here that will help.  Or others on the list may pick up on
something.
 
   I would be most interested in the results of your testing. Good luck.
 
[log in to unmask]                               Dave Green
PO Box 1215, Hemingway,  SC   29554