crop being pollinated, you should 

 have seven colonies in each group. 

 If 2 colonies per acre are needed, 

 put 13 colonies in each group or 

 location, and so on down the list. 



Colonies Colonies 



per acre: per group 



1 7 



2 13 



3 20 



4 26 



SCHEDULING DELIVERY 

 OF COLONIES 



Schedule the delivery of honey 

 bee colonies to coincide with the 

 flowering cycle of the crop you 

 want pollinated. Flowering cycles 

 vary. As a general rule, you should 

 have colonies already located in the 

 field when blooms first appear. 

 However, you can move bees into 

 alfalfa fields a few at a time, since 

 all of them may not be needed until 

 the crop reaches full bloom (about 

 10 days after alfalfa starts bloom- 

 ing). 



Whenever bees are moved to a 

 new location, they go through a pe- 

 riod of orientation during which 

 they get used to their new surround- 

 ings. Throughout this time, they are 

 most effective as pollinators of the 

 flowers nearest the hive. Once fully 

 oriented, their foraging extends 

 farther. 



POLLENIZERS 



Many varieties of fruit trees and 

 some other plants produce no fruit 

 when pollinated with their own pol- 

 len. They must be cross-pollinated. 

 Trees that must be cross-pollinated 



require pollen from other closely re- 

 lated fruit varieties. Some of them 

 accept pollen only from particular 

 varieties. 



Those that must be cross-polli- 

 nated include all varieties of al- 

 monds, chestnuts, and sweet cher- 

 ries; certain citrus; most varieties 

 of apples, pears, plums, prunes, and 

 blueberries; and a few varieties of 

 peaches and apricots. 



The varieties that produce suit- 

 able pollen for cross-pollination are 

 called pollenizers. Pollenizers must 

 be planted where bees will visit their 

 flowers, as well as the flowers of va- 

 rieties that must be pollinated, on a 

 single flight. Pollenizers usually are 

 interspaced between trees of the 

 main variety. 



Another effective method of pol- 

 linating is to graft branches of pol- 

 lenizers to trees of the variety that 

 must be pollinated. Grafts should be 

 located where bees are most likely 

 to visit — sheltered from prevailing 

 winds, but exposed to the sun. 



Hand- collected pollen can be 

 placed in a pollen dispenser in the 

 entrance of a beehive. Bees leaving 

 the hive come into contact with the 

 pollen and carry it to the flowers 

 they visit. 



To keep commercial pollen potent, 

 follow all directions for its proper 

 care. Hand-collected pollen is ex- 

 pensive and is generally used only as 

 a last resort to get the plants 

 pollinated. 



Bees also are used to pollinate 

 male-sterile plants that have been 

 developed for mass producing hy- 

 brid seed of several bee-pollinated 

 crops. Bees carry pollen from se- 



6 



