Blueberries about to be stung by bees

Posted by Sapan Behar

May 5, 2008

Yes, this year the blueberry crop is ripe to be stung by a shortage of bees. There are simply not enough bees to go around. The high winter mortality rate among honeybees last year will lead to a significant decline in yield for some farmers.

The above is also compounded by a wet and cold spring. With bloom delayed by weeks due to weather, there is not enough time for pollination. The honeybee is the most important pollinator when it comes to blueberries =, raspberries and strawberries.

With smaller colony sizes and less time for pollination, we are being proactive and have ordered extra hives this year. There are still some farmers that have not been able to procure bees for this season. It is not uncommon to see yields decline by about 50% when bees are not used for pollination.

The bumblebee is an excellent pollinator, but there are not enough of them to go around for commercial use. Our neighbouring properties have some wild brambles that attract bumblebees in droves and we benefit from them immensely when our fields are in bloom. It may not be a bad idea to not prune or destroy these wild brambles this year, just to get that added benefit.

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