From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] honeybees
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 10:28:54 -0500
I think my secret to attracting native bees early is the thousands of
crocuses (croci)that I've planted in the grass in the orchard floor---they
make a great show and draw in bees starting in April.
What, dandelions won't work? :-)
Seriously, do you have to worry about competition at all? Do bees on
flowering plants mean that they don't need to visit your fruit trees? Or
does the attraction effect of large numbers of blooms counter that?
My apricot was blooming earlier than anything, of course (I don't have
crocuses, though), and it appeared that I was getting a few - just a few
- honeybees, and even a few butterflies, from somewhere (since my
solitary bees never emerged). But later, when my pluots were blooming,
there were lots of things blooming - including dandelions - and I never
saw a single bee around the pluots (and I don't seem to have any fruit).
I just wondered about the effect of competition. Then again, crocuses
bloom so very early that there's not going to be much else blooming
around here, I suppose.
Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)
--
Never eat anything that could be older than your grandmother. - Dr.
Milton Love, Marine Biologist