indeed - the dandelions are empty - few bumblebees -
I have a half dozen hives of honeybees on the property, managed by mediocre bee
keeper, but they are flying - I have about 20 acres of tree fruit and have
always considered the native pollinators to be adequate to the job, this year
may be
In the Hudson Valley of NY we are also finding very few native pollinators
on dandelions as of late morning into the mid-afternoon.
Carpenter bees are plentiful but few honeybees or orchard bees.
By the end of the day we will be at 50% bloom on Ginger Gold with 1st
bloom observed only yesterday.
I'm surprised. In my suburban-boston backyard, I have seen more bumblebees and
other pollinators than in recent years. Maybe that's just because one of my
neighbors sprayed less this year, or some similar very local effect. But just
this weekend I was pleased by the number and variety of
Yup, same thing here. I suspect that natural population dynamics are taking
it's usual course. As a kid living on Greenwich Bay in Rhode Island I
remember years when the eels were so thick you dared not swim. Same for
jellyfish. Next ten years, none. One year clams in such abundance that you
Interesting, I was just observing full bloom sweet cherry yesterday
afternoon and made a mental note that native bee/pollinator activity seemed
to be light. There are no honeybees brought into the orchard yet, we wait
for apples. Normally, they (the native pollinators) are really swarming the
Jon:
Is there more to say of the leaf-blower alternative? Is this a
first-time trial? Problems?
It looks appears to have advantages over the stilts and dabbing
trials I ran some years ago, though uniformity of set is likely not so good.
David
