Bees and cranberries

              


Reprint BEES AND CRANBERRIES
Each year Wisconsin cranberry growers spend thousands of dollars
for the rental of tame honey bees in an attempt to effect better
pollination. How much benefit bees are in increasing production
is debatable. We have recommended the use of bees, mainly as a
supplement and on the basis of one colony per acre,
Chile we know the cranberry blossom is a true flower including
both male and female parts which in turn makes it self-polli.
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noting, we also know that In controlled experiments, honey bees
materially increased production, Basically the cranberry blossom
is unattractive to most pollinating insects due to the fact that
the female structure excretes very little nectar and the male
structure very small and limited amounts of pollen. What helps
offset these limiting factors is the profuse bloom in a bed of

cranberries, along with the extended period bloom is available on
a marsh.
It is generally agreed that bumble bees are without doubt the most
beneficial insect pollinators on a cranberry marsh. The reasons
to support this belief is that the bumble bee is a tireless worker,
really boroughs upon the blossom searching fpr food and works regardless
of the weather conditions. Several species of bumble bees
are found in Wisconsin and the queen is the only one that overwinters.
lf something happens to her before she raises her brood
in the spring, her loss is quite severe. Young brood can also be
killed by heavy rains, fires, etc., so a very limiting effect on
bumble bee populations defends on the number of young that butvive.
Bumble bees live in the ground and are very bond of new,
fibrous cranberry dykes and dams. Clean cultivation and spring
burning on most marshes quickly eliminate homesites fpr them.
Upland areas generally have the highest pojulationsj especially
so on cut over areas there there are many old stumps and large
numbers of wild flowering plants. It is very doubtful if it would
be practical to try and create nesting sites for bumble bees.
There are a large number of solitary Wasps: bees, flies that
inhabit beds, dykes, dams, and nearby upland areas, that visit
cranberry blossoms and probably help some in pollination. Most
of these insects are killed or their numbers seriously depleted
by pre-bloom dusting with insecticides,
From the above, it appears that tame honey bees are the only
insects we can possibly be assured of to act as a supplement in
cranberry pollination. Some growers have tried to raise their
own bees but unless a person has the genuine interest, plus
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enough time to devote to them, the results are usually disasterous.
If a grower desires to use honey
the following based on practical
bees as a supplement, we suggest
experience and schooling:
1, Demand and use only strong colonies, as weak colonies

are worthless. Strong colonies contain 40-50 M bees and
can be identified by the number uncoiling cut's of the
hive body in large numbers. Another indication is two or
three ''supers'' on the hive body, which generally indicates
the colony is strong and making considerable honey.