# Pollinating the Raspberries



## TimV (Jul 4, 2008)

When I went out today to check on a large raspberry ranch my bees have been taking care of for 5 years, I took along the camera as I thought some of you might be interested in how bees actually increase our food production. If you go to the link, and click on the pictures one by one I provide a brief overview of what actually goes on below the picture.

pollinating_the_raspberries Photo Gallery by Dan at pbase.com


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## staythecourse (Jul 4, 2008)

How's business Tim?

I have a hive myself and am nursing it along this year (my first.) Thanks for posting the pics.

PS. Does raspberry honey have a distinct flavor?


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## Herald (Jul 4, 2008)

Tim,

I _love _raspberries. 

On the Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695) wild raspberries grow on the median strip between the north and southbound lanes. In August it's not unusual to see a half dozen cars parked on the shoulder lane and folks picking berries. Strange sight in a major city.


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## TimV (Jul 4, 2008)

Out here in CA all we have are wild blackberries, and they're almost always small and sour!

The bees out here are dwindling, and no one really knows why. I only have about 70 hives now, and had to cancel some long term agreements for pollinating this year, but it's not like I can do anything about it. Farmers are nervous, and many are short bees, but that's agriculture. One year feast, one year famine and 3 years getting by.


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## staythecourse (Jul 4, 2008)

Tim,

Aren't the beekeepers assuming the disappearance is from colony collapse disorder? That's the common assumption in this neck of the country. No known cause.


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## kvanlaan (Jul 4, 2008)

Tim, I am actually wondering about how to prune and revive an old respberry patch that we will have on our place. It hasn't been put into active production for years now but I think there are some real possibilities for getting it productive again. Maybe we should be looking into starting up a hive... (though I'm not sure about that, as I'm deathly allergic!)

Sorry, a little 

Great thread, by the way!


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## TimV (Jul 4, 2008)

Kevin, you'll need to dig it up and plant something else in the same place for a year, as there are all sorts of diseases that collect over the years with raspberries.

In the mean time, you can get new plants and plant them in another place, hopefully several yards away from the old area.

Regards
Tim


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## VictorBravo (Jul 4, 2008)

Nice photos. 

Happily, there are plenty of bumblebees and leaf cutters around my area. My Summit raspberries are ripening (they ripen over about a month and a half) and I've been having them with breakfast. The Meekers are finally growing vigorously. It's been a cold, wet, spring and everything is way behind.

I wish I could get the bumbles to go in my greenhouse to pollinate the tomatos. I have to go in there and buzz the blossoms myself, but I'm getting food fruit set anyway. I was lazy and didn't plant greenhouse tomatos this year because I forgot to order seed.

I pray your bees hold up. They are as important as water.


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## turmeric (Jul 11, 2008)

Yes, thank God in Oregon we have solitary mason bees or we mightn't have had anything this summer, the season was late. I have black cap raspberries from the farmers' market this morning. They seem too delicate to put in pancakes.


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## TimV (Jul 11, 2008)

Yes, Meg, and there's another native kind that's helpful in cooler weather when honeybees don't work, the Blue Orchard Bee. It's really cute; they use bamboo sections to house them. This is an experiment done on an Almond ranch we pollinate. The bees did well, but there simply weren't enough, so we went back to honey bees.

As far as tomatoes, as Vic implied, honeybees don't work them. Commercial farmers often buy native Bumble Bee hives and put them in the greenhouse. If you don't have any in the greenhouse, you can pull the string of the tomato support to make the plant vibrate which will pollinate the plants (which Vic also implied). 

Here's a Blue Orchard Bee from our experiment


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## jaybird0827 (Jul 11, 2008)

Wow, that's beautiful.

We rejoice with you as we recollect our recent plum tree harvest that was a consequence of an exceptional season of pollination (and we don't even keep bees).


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