From:                   Tim Vaughan <[log in to unmask]>


> I need to move some hives to a couple raspberry locations this week.
> If the raspberries are mature, with good soil and properly irrigated,
> is there a chance for a harvest during the several month blooming
> period at the rate of 1 hive per acre?

Wild raspberries are a significant honey source in some areas of
eastern US.

But at one hive per acre I think you are pushing it, probably to near
the point of vanishing. In wild areas the bees placed have many
acres available for each hive.

What you'll be doing is a HUGE favor for the grower, as one hive
per acre is a good rate of stocking bees for maximum pollination.
But the quantity of nectar that is there might give a good honey yield
at one hive per five acres, is spread among more hives and the yield
per hive becomes minimal.

This is the basic reason why beekeepers charge for pollination.
Growers tend to think - "You are getting all the honey, so you should
do it free."  But when you stock a crop at optimum rates for
pollination, honey production becomes negligeable.

A lot of times it works against beekeepers who don't understand
this. A good beekeeper gets a contract for pollination and things are
going well until another beekeeper comes along and (thinking he'll
get some honey out of the deal) offers to do it for free or for greatly
reduced rates. The grower, thinking to save money, jumps at the
offer, and the relationship is broken.

I can think of such a relationship right now, when a new beekeeper
cut pollination rates by half , not realizing the amount of *feeding*
that the bees would require on cucumbers, took a big contract away
from a longtime beekeeper who was doing a good job at a fair price.
Now cucumbers make nectar, but not much, and no experienced
beekeeper will count the honey produced as a significant factor in
the total picture.

What resulted was a beekeeper with half his hives at starvation
levels (most were new hives with package bees on foundation),
doing very little pollination, and the grower losing tens of thousands
of dollars. The previous beekeeper is not willing to return (the
grower bailed out of the contract just as he was about to deliver the
bees), the new beekeeper is broke, and it's questionable whether
he'll be able to do it again....  So the whole system is contaminated,
and no one is doing well.

You would be wise to charge an appropriate fee for pollinating those
raspberries, because that is what you are doing, even if raspberries
produce a bit more than some other pollination crops. Don't count
honey as a significant factor, because it probably isn't. If you do get
a little honey, count it as an opportunity to upgrade some equipment
or something like that, because it's not likely to be a consistent
return year after year.

If the grower won't pay, don't go.

I have many times recommended Harry Whitcomb's book, "Bees
are My Business." to other beekeepers. (Out of print but easy to find
- run a search of used bookstores on the Internet) Harry was a
smart beekeeper, and a pioneer on the use of honeybees to
pollinate alfalfa seed - a good honey crop at the proper stocking for
honey, but needing far more hives for optimum pollination. Certainly
anyone who contemplates beekeeping as a business should make
this book a *must read.*  It's the clearest explanation I know, of the
relationship between honey production and pollination.

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page: http://pollinator.com

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