BEE NOTES FOR ORCHARDISTS 

 Spring, 1974 



D.C. Newton 

 Apiculturist, Department of Biological Sciences 

 Central Connecticult State College, New Britain, Ct. 06050 



Orchardists must know enough about beehives, pollination, and 

 bee behavior to provide the kind o£ orchard management that will re- 

 sult in setting a commercial crop. These notes are designed to pro- 

 vide such information. 



What is a Beehive ? 



Honey bees are always found in a social unit called a colony 

 consisting of a queen, her daughters called workers, and a relative 

 few of her sons called drones. Colony worker populations vary from 

 less than 10,000 to approximately 60,000. Population fluctuation 

 occurs throughout the season depending on the colony's history, 

 time of year and present-past floral conditions. Each colony is 

 housed in a modular hive that may be expanded to suit the needs of 

 the individual colony. It is important for the orchardist to real - 

 ize a puny colony may be housed in a large hive made of one or more 

 modules (called brood chamber and supers^. Value of the colony for 

 pollination depends on the size of the colony, not the size of the 

 hive. 



Why do Bees Pollinate Flowers ? 



An individual honey bee worker lives about six weeks during the 

 active season. Only a part of this time is spent gathering pollen 

 and nectar in the field. Each colony is constantly engaged in rear- 

 ing replacements for workers as they die in the fields of old age 

 and predators. The only source of protein to the bees is pollen 

 gathered from flowers. It is collected and used in large quantities 

 to feed young bees (called brood) as they grow to adulthood. There- 

 fore, a colony with brood is a better pollinating unit than one with 

 adult bees lacking brood . Pollination occurs when pollen grains 

 sticking to the hair coat of a bee are transferred from the anthers 

 of one flower to the stigma of a compatible flower. Certain wild 

 bees and honey bees are good pollinators because they have a dense 

 hair coat and each hair is built like a small brush. 



Why Move Honey Beehives to an Orchard ? 



Several kinds of wild bees can set a fruit crop. However, 

 their numbers. vary from year to year and they may be killed by spr aying 

 of the orchard or adjacent areas . By placing honey bees in the 

 orchard, the orchardist knows that adequate pollination will occur 

 unless the weather is very unusual. The worse the weather, the 

 greater the importance of having honey bees in the orchard to swiftly 



