# Blackberries Good?



## JD's Liquid Gold (Mar 7, 2012)

Hey guys and gals. I got bought my first hive last summer from a local beekeeper who was getting too weak to work them. He had around 20 hives. Long story short on that one is they seemed to do well throughout the summer and fall, but now they are all gone. I have 2 more hives ordered from another beekeeper in Alabama which I will pick up March or April. My point in this post is this: I am currently in the process of enlarging my blackberry mini-farm. Do bees do well with pollinating the blackberries or am I just assuming too much in that they will pollinate anything? I try to convince my wife that the bees are good for the blackberries, but I am kind of curious myself now. Thanks for any input!!


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## Ziva (Mar 13, 2011)

Depends on the type of blackberry. Some are self-pollinating and some need cross. But even the self-pollinating types will do better with bees helping. Where I live, blackberries are our main nectar flow. Bees love them! And blackberry honey is very nice


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## JD's Liquid Gold (Mar 7, 2012)

With the fact that the bees will travel a few miles away for pollen/nectar, does it matter if I place the bees right there at the blackberry patches or down in the woods 100 yards away? Would it help them to be that close to them or am I trying to hard?


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## Ziva (Mar 13, 2011)

I have hives right next to blackberries in one location, and further away in another. The bees go for the blackberries either way


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## JD's Liquid Gold (Mar 7, 2012)

Ziva said:


> I have hives right next to blackberries in one location, and further away in another. The bees go for the blackberries either way


Sounds good! Thanks, Ziva!!


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

Bee's pollinate Blackberries really well. Now getting paid for that pollination is another story.


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## TheBuzz (Feb 8, 2012)

The scouts will find them on their own.


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## predsfan (Apr 26, 2011)

I have blackberries literally 10 feet in front of the hives (keeps them from being seen from the street). They bloom pretty early in the spring and the bees love them. We had a bumper crop of blackberries 2 years ago (lost last year's to the late freeze). The bees will come out on cloudy days and go straight to them and straight back in the hives. On sunny days, there isn't an empty flower to be found on the bushes.


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## billybwf (Aug 17, 2012)

I use blueberries and a apple trees as a screen to keep my hives out of view.


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