David :
 
Pherotech has two products that were developed in conjunction with the
Apiculture lab at Simon Fraser University.  Bee Boost is consists of the
entire blend of the queen's mandibular pheromone embeded in a cotton
wick, and Fruit Boost is the blend in a formulation which can be sprayed
on crops to enhanse pollination.  From my own work I found that the
blend, when applied into colonies was able to significantly decrease the
initiation of queen rearing in queenless colonies.  The ability of the
pheromone to to inhibit queen rearing makes it possible to suppress
swarming when it is applied to colonies in the spring.  An additional
use of the pheromone in a beekeepers oppeartion is in the use of the
pheromone in place of a queen when shipping packaged workers (as Kevin
has already mentioned).
 
On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, (Kevin & Shawna Roberts) wrote:
 
> I thought about trying it out in five-frame nucs that I rent to seed
> companies  for pollination, in which the beehive is confined inside a nylon
> mesh cage along with the plants the breeder wants to cross.  Most nucs come
> out of the cages in pretty poor shape, and have to be requeened.  I was
> hoping to be able to save the cost of the queens by using queenless bees and
> a Bee Boost wick.  Unfortunately, there are many other chemicals that bees
> need to feel comfortable, including the ones that are provided only by
> developing brood.  More importantly, the wicks only last about a week, and
> the cost of revisiting the cage and replacing the wick two or three times
> exceeded the cost of a queen.  On the other hand, there have been some
> researchers in Canada who have  been successful in using queen pheromones
> with queenless nucs in pollination cages, so there are apparently other
> situations where it appropriate.
 
When Steve Michell looked after our bees at Simon Fraser he tried to hold
workers in a mating nuke until he had his next batch of queens ready.
I'm not sure how that worked out.   At any rate, I agree with you Kevin,
over a long period of time queenless workers probably need more than just
queen pheromone to stay.  What happened with the bees in your cages ?
With regards to the short life of the wicks, I believe Pherotech is
currently formulating a long-life slow release version of Bee Boost.
You'll have to check with Doug McCutcheon at Pherotech about that (604)
940-9944.
 
> I only know one grower who has used it in orchards (last year)
> and he was pleased with the increased bee activity.  He still got lousy
> pollination, but he didn't blame the bees for it.
 
Fruit Boost works best on crops that bees are not visiting much.  This
may be because of poor weather conditions during the bloom, or varieties
which produce poor or no nectar (e.g. Kiwi whose flowers do not produce
nectar).  If the weather is good and hot, and the crop attractive I don't
believe it has such a major effect in drawing bees into the field.
 
> The person you should talk to at Phero Tech is Doug McCutcheon.  There is
> also a fellow at Simon Fraser University who works with the stuff for
> pollination, but his name escapes me.  He has written an article or two in
> the ABJ in the last couple of years.
 
The fellow at Simon Fraser University is Mark Winston, although Heather
Higo also has played an important role in the development of queen
pheromone products at Simon Fraser.  A good all around article on how the
stuff works was published in American Scientist (1992 80 : 374-385).
 
Good Luck
Adony Melathopoulos
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia
CANADA
 
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