In a message dated 95-06-20 00:51:36 EDT, [log in to unmask] (Kim Patten) wrote: >For the past several years I have been evaluating methods to increase the amount of pollen honeybees gathered off of cranberry bogs. This includes sugar feeding, wave placement, egg laying/brood > manipulation, pollen removal, hive locations, hive numbers, QMP, use of complementary nectar rich >plants etc. Cranberry pollen is not all that attractive to honey >bees and they will go out of their way to collect anything other than >cranberry pollen. >What has worked for other plants which honey bee don't like such as onions or pears? I would be highly interested in the work you do. Could I have a more complete report? I am a commercial pollinator. I'm no scientist, but I've paid some tuition in the *University of the Seat of the Pants* Kiwifruit is probably the hardest plant to pollinate that I've had any experience with. Sometimes competing vegetation is more attractive, such as dewberries and tupilo while strawberries bloom, or oranges, during squash and melon bloom. The basic principle that I have develped and use is to have the maximum possible open brood. This means young queens, with the colonies in the upswing part of the spring buildup (if it isn't spring; it must be induced). In management for honey production you want the buildup to be ending just as the flow starts. In management for pollination, you want to have the colony 2-3 weeks earlier in the cycle. Do cranberries offer any significant nectar? Are there other nectar sources at the same time? I have never worked cranberries. Is cranberry pollen of good nutritional value or is it poor? I find that if there is a dearth of nectar the queens tend to shut down, so syrup feeding is in order. If there is a moderate nectar flow, syrup feeding is redundant. If there is a heavy flow, there is risk of storage in the brood chamber, thus shutting down the queen. There must always be some open comb for the queen. This is extremely important. If they start placing honey in the brood chamber, it must be removed. There are several ways to stimulate the queen temporarily, other than internal syrup feeding. Honeybees seem to get a bit lethargic if there has been no flow for a while, or after extremely hot weather. Moving bees stimulates the queen, and thereby foraging activity. I sometimes trade locations on the pallet to jump-start them. It works. Just opening the hive to check a frame or two for disease, also stimulates the queen for a couple days. If the bees simply aren't going out much, a little syrup in pails with pine straw to keep them from drowning can be placed a couple hundred feet from the hives. I have seen a real jump-start with this from only a small amount of syrup. Most of these methods I have used in cucumbers when the bees are already there since the spring crop, and they have gotten real lazy during the summer heat. When the fall cukes start blooming, the bees ignore them, until I jump-start them. If cranberry pollen is of low nutritional value, with little other pollen to balance it, queens will shut down. Supplemental pollen feeding may be necessary. You already know much of what I'm discussing, but perhaps there might be one idea here that will help. Or others on the list may pick up on something. I would be most interested in the results of your testing. Good luck. [log in to unmask] Dave Green PO Box 1215, Hemingway, SC 29554