Thanks to everyone for all the great info and advice.
My state agricultural dept has not responded to my request for info. Will see if I ever get anywhere with 'official' help.
I had read somewhere else (I think on this forum, actually) about not needing to spray until after petal drop being this far north. I think I might try that, since the apples are approaching pea-size. Eventually, I might hear from the state or from the university coop extension.
I am not a big believer in the words 'organic' or 'natural' for a variety of reasons (mostly related to how the use of the words gets mangled and distorted, as well as applied as a panacea for all ills, by the general population - not in reference to the suggestions provided here), but I DO like to minimize the use of 'hard' chemicals when and where I can. I especially like the house wren strategy, since it works on a number of levels - pest control, beneficial to small songbirds, no hard chemicals, AND might help me get a few good pieces of fruit this year, if the wrens chase away some of the larger birds that eat/destroy most of my fruit. Have you ever watched how a bird 'eats' an apple (substitute most any fruit here)? It pecks at it for a while, making a hole, until the apple falls to the ground. Does the bird follow the fruit and continue eating? No, that would put it in a vulnerable position on the ground. So, it just moves down the branch to the next piece of fruit and starts pecking. Repeat cycle ad nauseum. Eventually, the ground is littered with fruit with holes pecked in it, followed quickly by fruit flies. One could argue that they are eating the insects inside, except I see this a lot with my pears, which don't seem to have any insect pests. Makes a real mess, if I mow over the drops before the deer get to them.
Anyway, back to bees. I think a couple of house wren nests will be a good experiment, and from the plans I have found on the Net, I think even _I_ have sufficient carpentry skills to bang a few boxes together. They might eat a few bees, but I doubt they would make much of a dent. Empirical information follows:
I already have a couple of what look like Flycatchers that set up each summer in the trees beside the hives and spend the afternoon swooping down and grabbing the occasional bee. I did some simple calculations last summer - 2 birds, each averaging a bee every five minutes (which is what I observed) = 12 bees per bird per hour = 24 bees per hour x 10 hours (max. not that long in reality, maybe only half) = 240 bees per day taken from 12 hives = a loss of 20 bees per hive. I can live with that (probably lose more against windshields down on the road), especially since they like to pick bees from the lawn, and those are probably foragers on their last legs (wings?) trying to get back to the hive. And, if the house wrens 1) actually nest, and 2) actually eat bees at the same rate, I can live with that, too. Just have to hope they don't grab a queen on a mating flight.
Again, thanks, everyone, really great info and advice,
Bill
Claremont, NH
p.s. I have chickens, too. They are great at eating bugs, but their enclosure is on the other side of one of the barns from the fruit trees. Whenever I let them out, they seem to go everywhere BUT where I want them to go. Not very effective for my purposes (and difficult to herd), unfortunately. But, BOY are their egg yolks bright yellow from the insects in their diet! Interestingly, they never go near the hives. Smart chickens??? Now THAT'S an oxymoron.
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