North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Ernest Plutko" <ernestplutko@wiktel.com>]

I didn't see one honeybee last summer even though I made a point of
searching for them.  There was a cluster of about 30 bee hives eight
mile away in a field.  Honey bees usually fly about five miles so
those bees didn't make it to my trees.  It is too cold here for wild
or swarmed bees to make it through the winter so can't count on wild
honey bees.  My crab apples and wild plums had plenty of fruit but
there were few big apples.  Beelike insects living in ground are
probably hornets.  Mess with them at your peril-they sting.
I lived in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and there were many honey
bees but I never saw a bee hive. Wild bees can make it through the
mild winters there.