North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Jim Fruth" <jimfruth@charter.net>]

Mark,
   A queen excluder doesn't have holes, rather parallel chrome plated 
wires, I'm guessing...................maybe 1/4" apart.  Worker bees have to 
almost squeeze through.  The old style queen excluders did have holes.  The 
thing was a zinc sheet that had hundreds of  1/4" x 3/4" holes that were 
rounded at the ends.
   If you cover your blueberry/blackberry patch with anything that a bee 
can't fly(!) through, my best guess is that you'll get no pollinating from 
them.  I'm planning on covering my blueberry patch and I'll use 1" mesh 
chicken wire.  Plan B is to fence in the sides and use nylon bird netting on 
top so it can be rolled up when it is time for pollinating or picking.
   Something else to consider is whether honeybees will even visit your 
blueberries.  Honeybees have a proboscis that might be too short to perform 
the task.  My blueberries are visited ONLY by bumblebees.
   You say that a honeybee question is "off topic."  I don't think so since 
some of our fruits are dependent on them.

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
For jams, jellies, syrups and more:
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