Karen, I've seen them in the orchard weeks, and seen them in the orchard only a few days. We used to move in 600 colonies by hand. Took nine guys, three trucks, and three nights in and three nights out. One year, we moved out four days after the first bees went in. Then again, there were years when the bees went in when the blossoms were popping, the weather turned cold, and the bees sat in the orchard for three weeks. Sort of like this year...I talked to Northern Orchards in Peru, NY on Monday, and the bees were still in the orchard, as were the bees in Chazy...and they've been there for at least two weeks. I don't believe the orchards in this area attempt to pollinate only the king bloom. They get every flower fertilized, and then spray thinner. Mike On 5/18/2012 9:29 PM, Karen Thurlow-Kimball wrote: > I am wondering the normal time to leave hives in an apple orchard. I put > hives in an orchard May 13 and took them out tonight May 18. That just > seems to short to me? > *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm