Paul> Having kept bees in both eastern and western Washington (the Apple State) for a long time I can assure any that blackberry and apple bloom often co-inside and in close proximity.

Charles> Thanks Paul, all ours our wild and at least a month apart.....!


I'm with Charles. I keep a bloom calendar, and my apiaries are all close to apple orchards. My records consistently show apples ahead of wild blackberry. Last year the main orchard bloom was May 5th and the blackberry bloom on June 19th. Interesting that the phenology would vary so much in Washington unless we're talking about a blackberry that's a commercial cultivar or an ecotype. 

I'm allowed to walk the apple orchards, and I cringe at the amount of foraging going on in the understory after the various tank sprays. One orchard sprays 22 times a year, and my bees are usually foraging on dandelion during the entire time. Making matters more troubling, the orchard's offer my bees hectares of buckwheat which is used as a cover crop when old trees are rotated out. Those areas are randomly colocated with the trees being sprayed. 

Needless to say, my bees are in harm's way but even with the frequent and sometimes prolonged foraging in the orchards, I haven't had classic pesticide kills nor can I say I've noticed any ill effect. My wax might provide some useful research data. 

Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT 

 

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