servatusprime

Hey folks,

I think I'm witnessing my peach tree being avoided by would be pollinators. I still have blooms going but I'm well past the halfway point for the number of total bloom from what I can tell (first year growing this). I think all the bees are way more interested in my banana flowers. I should take a picture, because it looks like the bees are at a rave party, but only at the nanners. Any thoughts or suggestions? I am hoping to avoid going out there to hand pollinate all those blooms every year if this turns out to be an ongoing problem. Thanks!

Kat2

Why not bag your banana flowers?

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kubali

I always but a small bowl of sugar water next to my peach trees and the bees are very happy to work for me.just make sure you put some rocks in the bowl so they don't get wet trying to get a drink.

servatusprime

Hmmm that's a interesting idea. I don't want to written up by the HOA for bags in my "trees". If I lived out in the country I would try it out.

Kat2

You can purchase green tulle at a fabric shop and make bags that will blend in. If you can thread a needle, you can do a running stitch up one side then secure the bag with a long twist tie. They'd be reusable.

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servatusprime

Really? I never thought of that. Do they go to the bowl and then the flowers too? Sugar water on the rocks is worth a try, if not bees I'm sure I'll make some ants very happy. What kinda of ratio do you use, or does it really not matter?

kubali

it works for me very well and has for years and I got about 20 trees all together peach, nectarine,plums...just make sure you put some rocks in it so they have something to stand on and get a sip.

servatusprime

Well that's a "crafty" idea! Well I imagine my wife would mind going to the craft store with me.

kubali

I put a cup of sugar in a 20 ounce cup of water and stir till it dissolves.

raygrogan

Somewhere I read that bees are specialists in the sense that they only go to one kind of flower on each run, then go dump their nectar into the batch, then go out for a different type of flower. Could be a time of day thing, etc. Most peaches tend to set too much fruit and you have to thin them.

Richard

Bees start their pollen runs very early in the morning. So unless you're out there from pre-dawn to dusk surveying the action, I'd relax. For the future though, my father taught me to put a plant in the orchard that bloomed year-round; in our case rosemary. This way the bees are already coming to the orchard on a regular basis when the fruit trees bloom. And by-the-way, we put the rosemary in a pot so that the plant did not compete with the fruit trees for root resources.

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Doodling along at tangentvectors.org

George Webster

A Queen mates during her second week of life. Taking several mating flights. Mating with 5 to 10 drones. Average 8. So there are several subfamilies within the hive. Some will be pollen collectors others nectar collectors. Others will do both. Some will only visit the plant they first visited for the whole week they still have to live. Others will not be particular and visit several different plants on each trip. Some will forage close to the hive. Others will fly a good distance before they look for food sources.

It is really a very complex system that works for the good of the colony. Bees are fascinating livestock to keep. In my opinion, great pets.

George.