Good points. A study is needed to see if robot pollination works
commercially (good luck with getting such a study on a bee-free orchard).
2019 showed that good almond crops can be set in poor bloom weather. Cool,
rainy weather delays anther dehiscence (pollen shedding). 2019 bloom-time
rains washed off less pollen than anticipated -- bees collected lots of
almond pollen in late afternoon, after morning and mid-day rains. Once the
pollen gets to the sticky stigma at the end of the pollen pistil, it is
difficult to dislodge.Warm temps are needed for pollen tube growth (down
the pistil to the ovule).White almond petals may act as a reflector oven
to enhance pollen tube growth.
On Thu, Dec 5, 2019 at 9:42 AM randy oliver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Yeah, I'm curious about this. There are a number of factors and costs
> involved.
>
> Growers want a reliable source of pollination service, and our industry's
> regular problems with supplying adequate hives as promised really hurts
> us.
> On the other hand, I'm trying to wrap my head around how the machines
> would work. In an orchard, there are typically three cultivars grown, in
> alternating rows. Nonpareil is the most valuable, then an early-blooming,
> and a late-blooming pollinizer on either side. The plan is that bloom of
> each of the pollinizers will overlap that of Nonpareil, thus ensuring
> nutset of both Nonpareil and the pollinizers. In some years, all three
> flower simultaneously. In other years, there is barely any overlap between
> the blooms.
>
> So the mechanical system would need to harvest and process pollen from
> cross-compatible cultivars
> http://www.burchellnursery.com/pdf/BNI_Almond_Compatiblity.pdf in
> advance, freezing later-blooming ones to pollinate the early cultivars the
> next year.
>
> Then since the flowers on any cultivar open and are then receptive over a
> relatively-brief time period, how many passes on different days would the
> machine need to make for each cultivar? That means that the machines could
> likely not be rented, but would need to be in nearly continual use in every
> orchard, and then set idle for the rest of the year.
>
> Them there are weather and temperature issues, since rain will wash pollen
> off the pistils, and the pistil is nonreceptive at low temps. Bees
> pollinate only during times favorable for pollination, and can effect
> pollination with as little as an hour of good flight weather per day.
>
> So the question will be cost to the grower, which would need to cover the
> cost each year of purchasing frozen(?) pollen, perhaps well in advance, as
> well as the cost and maintenance of the machines (and hoping for no
> breakdowns during critical bloom/weather windows). This would be compared
> by the grower to the cost and reliability of renting bees.
>
> I have no idea as to how this will work out. Some brokers, such as Joe
> Traynor, present convincing evidence that growers don't necessarily need
> two strong colonies per acre. I've long suggested that growers stock at
> number of frames of bees per acre instead, thus reducing costs.
>
> The best thing for our industry to do would be to stop telling the growers
> that we are in crisis and nonsustainable. We need to provide a reliable
> supply of strong colonies that the growers can count on. And at a cost
> comparable or less than that of mechanical pollination. Hold onto your
> seats as we see how this all works out!
>
> --
> Randy Oliver
> Grass Valley, CA
> www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
>
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