Apple orchard invite.

[Greengage]

I have just got myself an invite to an Apple orchard, yipee in all there are 280 acres of Apples so I am looking forward to that.
I have told beekeepers about this orchard and I dont think they believed me but it exists anyway the chap running it is interested in getting bees he knows I have some and I have been invited to have a look.

Now I am not going to give him any advice on bees as part of the day job I am going to look at the orchard. I am chuffed and some collagues are a bit green as they want to come for a look too.
How do they manage an orchard this size, what is the pruning regime like, Do they spary, how are the apples harvested How much mechanisation is involved. I want to see this orchard in bloom and also just before harvest.

But back to the bees how many hives would an orchard this size support, I would assume 2 per acre, what would happen to the bees when the bloom fades where will they forage, this may involve migrating bees into the orchard, what would happen to the bees if the blossom got hammered by hail showers, or if the nectar was diluted by dew or washed out by rain, How does he cope with birds eating the buds, what predator control is in place, what if So many questions.
Since I am not interested in putting bees on it because I dont have time and am not willing to commit, He will need a lot of help to get started or maybe he would be better leaving the pollination thats is the supplying of bees to someone else as it would entail a lot of extra work.

Reckon my stock will go up with local beekeepers, Who do I tell.....

[prakel]

How many trees is that? I was recently approached on behalf of a local cherry grower with 5000 trees but they're housed on a tiny fraction of land compared to your 280 acres.

[Greengage]

You can see it on google earth. This is the grid ref and it is huge N970222
https://www.google.ie/maps/@

[prakel]

You can see it on google earth. This is the grid ref and it is huge N970222
https://www.google.ie/maps/@

Thanks, but it's the number of trees which fascinates me, don't really fancy counting them for myself!

[Mellifera Crofter]

The Mid Bucks Beekeepers Association (https://blog.mbbka.org.uk/category/education/bbka-module-8/) has some helpful notes for the exams, and the Module 8 notes has a table on page 37 listing the number of hives needed per acre or hectare (not that I'll ever remember that). It says:

Apples (dwarf): 3/acre or 7.4/ha
Apples (semi-dwarf): 2/acre or 4.9/ha
Apples (normal size): 1/acre or 2.5/ha

Kitta

[Greengage]

Mellifera thanks for that.
Parkel Ill find out the number as I am curious myself.

[The Drone Ranger]

An old method of encouraging bees to Apple was to feed some syrup that had been infused with apple flowers
Don't know if it worked well or not

[match]

I remember reading somewhere that many of the bumble and solitary bees do a much better job of orchard pollination than honey bees do - I think it's that fruit blossom isn't that rich in sugar, and honey bees have the option to fly further to collect 'better' nectar from hedgerows etc, while the others have to get what they can 'locally'.

Many soft fruit growers use boguth-in bumble bee colonies in polytunnels - I wonder if the same system works for orchards?

Not directly of use, but there's an interesting paper on the issues with pollinator deficit here: http://www.reading.ac.uk/caer/Project_IPI_Crops/documents/JPE-2013-Garratt_et_al.pdf

[Greengage]

Cheers thanks.

[Mellifera Crofter]

... Many soft fruit growers use boguth-in bumble bee colonies in polytunnels - I wonder if the same system works for orchards? ...

Dave Goulson, in 'A Sting in the Tale' says that, in Perthshire, bumble bees are mostly used in polytunnels to pollinate raspberries, but also outside to pollinate strawberries - so, perhaps they can be used in orchards, provided they use a native bumble bee specie, and I don't think (according to the book, if I read it right) that there are that many suppliers of native UK bumble bees.
Kitta

[Poly Hive]

Last I heard was bumbles were imported form Belgium but that was anecdotal.

Just found a new site for our association hives which is funnily enough an old orchard.

PH

[gavin]

Biobest produce in Belgium and Koppert produce in Slovakia and Turkey. At least one will supply the UK bumble bee Bombus terrestris audax if you want - potentially with a mix of international pathogens. All use honey bee pollen loads so there's another opportunity for cross-species pathogen mixing.

[alancooper]

I remember reading somewhere that many of the bumble and solitary bees do a much better job of orchard pollination than honey bees do - I think it's that fruit blossom isn't that rich in sugar, and honey bees have the option to fly further to collect 'better' nectar from hedgerows etc, while the others have to get what they can 'locally'.[/url]

I have 10 apple trees in a grass field in small-field hedged landscape. My honey bees and bumble bees use the apple trees in small numbers compared with other flying insects mainly hover flies. I am not an entomologist but pollination processes seem quite different in high nature value landscapes.