Honeybees

[leashlaws]

Re: honeybees

My little dwarf citrus trees are bursting with blooms and new fruitlets, too. And I have a cherry tomato plant that self-seeded in one of my flower pots that has obviously been pollinated by something. I have seen those big fat carpenter bees hanging around the plants more than in the past and very few honeybees. Lots of butterflies, too.

I am interested in your dwarf citrus - what varieties do you have? I really want to get some but don't know if they'd do well (Haiku Valley - Kaneohe). Can you tell me a little more - sorry - this is probably off the original subject. However, our bees face the same problems and issues as elsewhere and it's frightening since they do so much good. I really enjoy the honey
types by region at the KCC farmer's markets.

[kani-lehua]

Re: honeybees

[

quote=WindwardOahuRN;188068]I generally just use insecticidal soap or sometimes a pyrethrin-based product. I used to be more into killing bugs but in the eight years we've lived here I've realized that it is such a losing battle

.

yes. i've heard of pyrethrin-based products and of course insecticidal soap. i've just been using regular (melaleuca) dishwashing soap and water for some bugs such as white fly. and, i do agree, that it seems to be a losing battle. just not having luck growing things lately and getting a little jealous seeing my neighbor across the street with some pretty good looking tomatoes.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: honeybees

[.
yes. i've heard of pyrethrin-based products and of course insecticidal soap. i've just been using regular (melaleuca) dishwashing soap and water for some bugs such as white fly. and, i do agree, that it seems to be a losing battle. just not having luck growing things lately and getting a little jealous seeing my neighbor across the street with some pretty good looking tomatoes.

Miracle grow and lots of water.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: honeybees

I am interested in your dwarf citrus - what varieties do you have? I really want to get some but don't know if they'd do well (Haiku Valley - Kaneohe). Can you tell me a little more - sorry - this is probably off the original subject. However, our bees face the same problems and issues as elsewhere and it's frightening since they do so much good. I really enjoy the honey
types by region at the KCC farmer's markets.

The lemon is a dwarf Meyer lemon. If you're not familiar with Meyer lemons they're sort of a cross between an orange and a lemon. If you let them grow to full size they are huge---about the size of a good-sized orange. Great for sorbet and tossing into drinks. If I get more than I can use I squeeze the juice into ice cube trays, freeze them, and put the cubes in freezer bags. Nice to have around when you need just a little for a drink or cooking.
The lime is a dwarf Bearss lime. Very juicy, perfect lime taste.
I can't remember what the orange is but whatever it is I wouldn't buy another one. Just not that great.
I got them all at Home Depot at least six years ago. The lime produces sporadically but the lemon pretty much always has some fruit on it in one stage of growth or another.
They need a lot of sun, of course, and because they are grown in pots they require more feeding than those that are grown in the ground. I use the Gaviota fertilizer for fruit trees.
Good luck!
Addendum: I was thinking back to when I first got those trees. They would be so covered with bees when the blossoms opened that you could hardly get near them---had to be very careful. No more. So yes, I can say that I have seen a decrease in the bee population here.

[Karen]

Re: honeybees

WindwardRN, do you remember about how long ago you got them? I am wondering if the bees have been much fewer for just a couple of years.

Today I saw like two bees on the lychee and one on the avocado. No swarms this season.

[Peshkwe]

Re: Honeybees

My grandma used to keep rhubarb leaves in a pail of water to soak. She'd put the water into a sprayer and use it to kill aphids and white fly. My grandpa used willow water (willow branches soaked in a bucket for a few weeks) as a rooting bath and to water young plants to boost their root growth.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: honeybees

WindwardRN, do you remember about how long ago you got them? I am wondering if the bees have been much fewer for just a couple of years.

Today I saw like two bees on the lychee and one on the avocado. No swarms this season.

I wrote previously that it was at least six years ago but I am thinking now that it was closer to eight years ago that I got the trees. Honestly, I didn't think much about it until this thread. The trees bloomed and they bore fruit so I didn't even pay attention to who was responsible for the pollination.
Today I was fussing with the citrus trees and they had quite a few lovely sweet blooms on them. And not one bee. NOT ONE. To think that I often had to stand back and wait for the bees to move in order to pick a lemon without disturbing a bee is upsetting.
Since this thread started I've been actively looking for bees and have not seen any.

[Karen]

Re: Honeybees

Thanks for the reiteration.

Yep, as recently as last year I would have to duck when sweeping the patio under the lychee cuz bees buzzing around on some low leaf. Today...could count 3 on it and man am I thankful for those three. I think...moths and butterflies also pollinate. I wonder if these other little buggahs that are around the tree, not swarming but they are bouncing on and off of it....a few of them...whatever they are, I wonder if and I hope that they do pollinate.

[Honoruru]

Re: Honeybees

I talked to a co-worker today who is very much into plants and flowers (she's a botanist). She said her backyard garden has definitely seen less honeybees than in past years.

Also, since my last post (3/16) I've been actively looking for honeybees, but I haven't seen a single one. Usually, I don't have to look for them; they find me and get in my face. That's what they do. Or used to do. I'd have to shoo them away or evade them.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Honeybees

Usually, I don't have to look for them; they find me and get in my face. That's what they do. Or used to do. I'd have to shoo them away or evade them.

Heheh, I've been doing that with the carpenter bees of late.

I used to always see bees walking on the ground or dead ones, as well as lots of live ones, but not much of either kind nowdays. Especially the dead ones. They must have their own "graveyard".

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Honeybees

I have not seen one bee since this thread started. My little citrus trees are flourishing---quite a few blossoms and many tiny lemons, limes, and oranges. So something is pollinating those guys. I do notice that the trees have ants on them. I don't know what the ants find so attractive on those trees but is it possible that the ants are pollinating the flowers? The act of pollination is not brain surgery---I've done it myself with indoor patio tomato plants. Just touch the tip of a pencil to the stamen of one flower, picking up a bit of pollen, and then deposit it on the carpel of another flower. I imagine a wandering ant could do it quite nicely even without a pencil.
Or maybe the plants are self-pollinating? It's pretty windy here---perhaps the pollen is swirling around in the flower and landing in all the right places?
In any event it looks like I'll have a bumper mini-crop if all the bead-citrus reach full fruition.

[MyopicJoe]

Re: Honeybees

Over the years I seen a lot of bees in the process of dying, around our building in Manoa. Kinda creepy. I assume there's an innocent reason for it.

[kani-lehua]

Re: Honeybees

was walking throught the neighborhood this morning and ACTUALLY saw some bees pollinating someone's hedge. i don't know what pollinated our 50 year old mango tree. this, too, will have a bumper crop (ick, i don't like them). we had it trimmed several years ago and it's only now recovering (this is normal). also, our guava tree fruits all year round (ick, i don't like those either). trying to germinate some tomato, pepper and papays at the moment. for me, the ants seem to be around everytime there are white flies. i just wish my puakenikeni trees would blossom. they're about 4 ft. tall right now and app. 2 yrs. old. got two native hawaiian gardenia plants and the native mauna loa that still need to be planted.

[Karen]

Re: Honeybees

We have tiny, green lychee on the tree and new growth on many branches that if they make blossom as well as leaves then they'll need to be pollinated but man am I thankful to see we do have lychee already. One avocado tree has fruit on it, and I can't tell on the other, yet. the most bees I could see at one time, on one side of the tree was six, and that was only one day, but like others here are reporting...we do have fruit.

[cyleet99]

Re: Honeybees

My son and I saw honeybees in the Waimea Valley last weekend--nice sight to see, and a great park! Bought a family pass and already went back. Lots of people there on the weekend; quite a few during the weekday, too.