David : Pherotech has two products that were developed in conjunction with the Apiculture lab at Simon Fraser University. Bee Boost is consists of the entire blend of the queen's mandibular pheromone embeded in a cotton wick, and Fruit Boost is the blend in a formulation which can be sprayed on crops to enhanse pollination. From my own work I found that the blend, when applied into colonies was able to significantly decrease the initiation of queen rearing in queenless colonies. The ability of the pheromone to to inhibit queen rearing makes it possible to suppress swarming when it is applied to colonies in the spring. An additional use of the pheromone in a beekeepers oppeartion is in the use of the pheromone in place of a queen when shipping packaged workers (as Kevin has already mentioned). On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, (Kevin & Shawna Roberts) wrote: > I thought about trying it out in five-frame nucs that I rent to seed > companies for pollination, in which the beehive is confined inside a nylon > mesh cage along with the plants the breeder wants to cross. Most nucs come > out of the cages in pretty poor shape, and have to be requeened. I was > hoping to be able to save the cost of the queens by using queenless bees and > a Bee Boost wick. Unfortunately, there are many other chemicals that bees > need to feel comfortable, including the ones that are provided only by > developing brood. More importantly, the wicks only last about a week, and > the cost of revisiting the cage and replacing the wick two or three times > exceeded the cost of a queen. On the other hand, there have been some > researchers in Canada who have been successful in using queen pheromones > with queenless nucs in pollination cages, so there are apparently other > situations where it appropriate. When Steve Michell looked after our bees at Simon Fraser he tried to hold workers in a mating nuke until he had his next batch of queens ready. I'm not sure how that worked out. At any rate, I agree with you Kevin, over a long period of time queenless workers probably need more than just queen pheromone to stay. What happened with the bees in your cages ? With regards to the short life of the wicks, I believe Pherotech is currently formulating a long-life slow release version of Bee Boost. You'll have to check with Doug McCutcheon at Pherotech about that (604) 940-9944. > I only know one grower who has used it in orchards (last year) > and he was pleased with the increased bee activity. He still got lousy > pollination, but he didn't blame the bees for it. Fruit Boost works best on crops that bees are not visiting much. This may be because of poor weather conditions during the bloom, or varieties which produce poor or no nectar (e.g. Kiwi whose flowers do not produce nectar). If the weather is good and hot, and the crop attractive I don't believe it has such a major effect in drawing bees into the field. > The person you should talk to at Phero Tech is Doug McCutcheon. There is > also a fellow at Simon Fraser University who works with the stuff for > pollination, but his name escapes me. He has written an article or two in > the ABJ in the last couple of years. The fellow at Simon Fraser University is Mark Winston, although Heather Higo also has played an important role in the development of queen pheromone products at Simon Fraser. A good all around article on how the stuff works was published in American Scientist (1992 80 : 374-385). Good Luck Adony Melathopoulos Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia CANADA [log in to unmask] (604) 291-4163