Re. Fruit Boost
 
    Kevin, the 'fella at Simon Fraser University who has been doing some
    work on Fruit Boost' is Dr. Mark Winston.
 
    Winston and Dr. Keith Slessor of SFU were the scientists who isolated
    and deciphered the chemical composition of queen mandibular pheremones
    (QMP).  This eventually led to the development of a commercial
    preparation called Fruit Boost.
 
    Fruit Boost has only been researched and recommended as a 'pollination
    enhancer' in blueberry, pears and cranberry.  Neither Winston nor
    Pherotech have ever made wild claims about phenomenol crop yield and
    quality increases.  Winston and his group focused on a few crops that
    have often had pollination difficulties, either because of the crop
    itself (pears and cranberries have relative low values of bee
    attractiveness) or because prevailing weather at time of bloom was often
    poor (blueberry and pear).
 
    The results of years of research has shown that under good weather
    conditions, these crops are sufficiently well pollinated and there is
    either a non- significant or non-measurable advantage in using Fruit
    Boost.  Yet, Fruit Boost has shown remarkable differences in crop yields
    and quality when pollination had to take place under poor conditions.
 
    I think it is important for everyone to recognize the nature of the
    product.  Fruit Boost is designed to alter or influence bee behavior and
    since behavior is determined by a wide array of internal and external
    factors, it is remarkable that the product does what it does under some
    conditions.   This type of work is at the very forefront of research
    and has enormous potential in the control of insect pests.  I am
    speculating here but the successive stages in the life cycle of Varroa
    is also governed by the timely release of pheremones and perhaps in the
    future some pheremonal product can be identified and manufactured in the
    control of this pest.  What makes this so attractive is that pheremones
    are naturally occurring, act at exceedingly low dosages, and are target
    specific.
 
    For more information about Fruit Boost, you may contact Pherotech at ph.
    (604) 940-9944 / fx. (604) 940-9433.   Dr. Winston can be reached at,
 
        Simon Fraser University                 (604) 291-4475
        Dept. Biological Sciences               (604) 291-3496
        Burnaby, B.C.,  V5A 1S6
 
    regards,
 
    Paul van Westendorp                         [log in to unmask]
    Provincial Apiarist
    British Columbia