pear trees

wtiger · April 16, 2008, 03:17:48 PM

Every thread I've seen about bee forage has said that bees aren't too hot on the pear trees. I think it must depend on the variety. I'm not sure what variety of pear tree is on my parents property where I keep my bees. It's about 35-40 feet tall and the bees are all over it. I hadn't looked before; because everyone said they don't like it too much. What with so much other good forage available to them this time of year. I stood under the tree and looked straight up and the tree was absolutely buzzing with activity. They were all over the blossoms.

Alan Forbes · April 16, 2008, 03:59:07 PM

I did an apprenticeship for my horticulture degree on a pear orchard in Medford, OR; they had Bosc, Comice, D'Anjou and Bartlett pears and as I remember, the bees didn't get too excited about the blossoms. However, there were plenty of other insects that visited the flowers; maybe the wind helped as well, but the fruit set on the trees was high and crews had to be hired to thin the fruit clusters so that the fruit that was left grew large. You could tell that the flowers were pollinated by the number of seeds that developed in the fruit.

You must have a particularly succulent tree for the bees to get so excited about. Too bad you don't know what variety it is; sometimes they are very hard to identify, especially if has grown from a seed, i.e a new and different variety.

Michael Bush · April 16, 2008, 09:33:07 PM

If the pears are the only thing blooming, they will be all over it. If there are better things blooming, they will ignore it.

Brian D. Bray · April 16, 2008, 11:37:40 PM

Quote from: Michael Bush on April 16, 2008, 09:33:07 PM
If the pears are the only thing blooming, they will be all over it. If there are better things blooming, they will ignore it.

That's true with a lot of plants and trees. Bees have their preferences and what 1 hive likes another may not. In the end it all works out.

Cindi · April 17, 2008, 10:35:25 AM

Phew, my blueberry bushes are going to be opening blooms pretty soon. I am really really glad that the phacelia and borage are at least a month away from blooming. Once they are in bloom, I can bet my bottom dollar that they would pay no heed to the blueberry, not a chance!!! Beautiful and most wonderful day, Cindi

bassman1977 · April 17, 2008, 01:32:27 PM

Don't pears blossom around the same time as apples? I forget. It's been years since we have had pears and apples at the same time.

Scadsobees · April 17, 2008, 04:03:59 PM

Yeah, I have apple and pear, and have only seen maybe but one or two bees on the pears. They really don't smell very good. The only thing on the pears are perhaps flies and sweat bees, but they have never failed to have a really good fruit set. I've decided that my pears don't need pollination.

Rick

wtiger · April 17, 2008, 04:26:01 PM

Yeah I'm not sure why they've been so interested in the pears. It's primarily before 11 - 12 after that there are plenty of different types of bees on the pear, but the honeybees seem to loose interest. It's not like they don't have plenty of other nectar sources right now. dogwood, redbud, apple, plum, apricot, cherry, dandelion, etc... I really missed the pear last year. Normally this tree is so packed with fruit that you have to worry about the limbs breaking, but last year that late hard frost killed the blooms and buds of almost every early blooming fruit bearing tree in the area.

Dane Bramage · April 17, 2008, 05:35:27 PM

a few days ago the pears here started blooming and the bees were not around. Now the pear blooms are full and the bees are all over them.

They're still on the other sources as well; cherry, maple, plum is what I can see but there is loads blooming at the moment here.

Cheers,
Dane