North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>]

Thanks to all, for the replies.  It sounds like trying to screen out the
beetles will also screen out the honey bees, as well as bumble bees.  Since
the beetles don't show up until the fruit is ripe, perhaps the best solution
is to make the screening removable to allow for pollination.

I don't currently keep bees, but a neighbor does.  They are all over the
blackberries.  The blueberries are brand new, so I've little experience with
their pollination.  They did bloom some this spring and I didn't notice any
honey bees visiting.  Since the blueberry rows are next to the blackberries,
I thought I'd enclose them as well.

I've considered a small high tunnel to enclose the planting, but the
blackberries seem to do fine getting rained on.  Not any significant
problems with fungus.  Open blueberry plantings I've seen around here also
seem to do fine.  Of course birds are a problem.  One disadvantage of a
tunnel is that I'd have to mess with drip irrigation, whereas mother nature
has done a pretty good job watering the open blackberries, which are
mulched.  Another disadvantage,  like Jim mentioned, is that supposedly
honey bees don't like to go in tunnels, even with the ends open.   A farmer
I visited a couple weeks ago talked about using boxed bumble bees to
pollinate his high tunnel raspberries.  So to get my berries pollinated  I'd
still have to remove the plastic, or buy boxed bees.

As Anthony mentioned, the enclosure would be too small to try to place a
hive inside.

So that leaves removable screening as the option.  I wonder if all the top
screening would have to be removed for pollination, or would it suffice to
make only some of the top panels removable?  Any opinons?

Mark
KS