# Watermelon pollination



## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

So I received a phone call from a grower wanting honey bees for watermelon pollination. What should I expect as far as honey bee health and is additional feeding going to be required? What questions should I ask the farmer about his operation?
I assume there will no honey will be produced from the melons, so this would only benefit the grower. Thank you for your time and feedback.
Jason


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Watermelon bloom period is fairly short. The bees will get quite a bit of pollen but not much nectar, but around here there is plenty of other stuff for them. 

One of the beekeepers in our local club keeps bees for watermelon production and gets honey, but if you are in a dry area where there isn't much forage outside the melons you may need to feed some syrup while they are pollinating. 

Peter


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

You should demand top dollar. Otherwise it is hard to get it up later, as in next year and the year after.

Are you set up to do pollination work? Do you have enough hives to do pollination and still produce the amount of honey you want to sell? You can count on a loss in your annual honey production.


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## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

Out here a friend of mine stopped pollinating watermelons because the spraying was so bad. He also would have to move the bees out half way through so the farmer could spray and then move them back in after a certain amount of time. Even with charging the farmer a move in and move out charge he figured it wasn't worth it.

I would definitely ask questions about what he sprays and when he sprays.


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## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

Ok,
Well I spoke the seed supplier and he is representing a group of farmers. They are looking at getting started with a seedless watermelon and only planting 200 acres. 
I expressed my concern for the safety of my bees and a location to move them to when they need to spray the crops. They want the bees for 40-50 days and this is a new venture for them so this may or may not happen. 
No I am not really set up to do pollination, I will be moving my bees with a pallet and dolly by hand. I have done this several times over the years when I needed to move them to better forage. I do understand I will not make any honey off this, but the pay would help off set honey sales and the time and expense to extract it. 

Thanks again y'all
Jason


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## mroark (Oct 2, 2012)

I lost over 150 hives pollinating watermelons this summer. I was told melon farmers were hard on bees but I rolled the dice anyway. I did charge a premium, $125 / hive, which in retrospect wasn't enough all things considered.


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## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

Please let us know how it goes for you.


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## wglord (Nov 23, 2009)

I used to pollinate seedless watermelons in NC. I gave it up due to continuous high losses. I think my bees were packing poisoned pollen into the hive and that was causing problem the following spring too. Just a guess, but I know my high losses stopped when I stayed away from watermelons. In NC they spray a lot of fungicides mostly. Good luck!


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

I have done some watermelon pollination for the last few years (small scale - 25 hives). It is very hard on the bees. Especially the last few years when we have had a lot of rain. During rainy spells, the growers would spray fungicide literally every single day for a week or more. The bees go in strong and come out somewhere between poor and pitiful if not outright dead.


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## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

GaSteve,
This is going to be irrigated fields so I assume they will be spraying fungicide. So in y'alls opinion is it worth it? I would be running 200 hives for $60 each


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## mroark (Oct 2, 2012)

NOT for that price. I was paid 125 in central Oklahoma. The general consensus is that melons are very hard on bees, if you are going to pollinate them you should price the job like you are selling the bees.


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## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

Thank you Mroark!


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

I think you should go in with the automatic assumption that you will have a lot of loss in the form of weak or dead hives and price it from that standpoint. If your experience ends up being anything like mine, $60 isn't near enough.


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## busybeeapiaries (Apr 9, 2014)

We pollinate both watermelons and cucumbers,they are about the same as the bees will not get much nectar. This means that you have to feed them or leave honey on them, both cost money and or time. the other problem like so many have stated is the fact that you will lose bees. From fungicide to the sucker spray they are always working something. our fields have the even greater problem of being surrounded by tobacco farms. Tobacco farms spray insecticide and if your bees are not getting enough nectar you can bet they will go out to the other fields around. We still pollinate for them because they also have other produce and the pollination runs are large and near other pollination fields. If its a small job it will not be worth it, if its a large run it might be worth it but you will need to charge top dollar for it to cover losses and the extra work that you will have to do. Look at the surrounding farms though, and know what your bees will be around.


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## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

Well for me it will be a large pollination gig as I am just small potatoes, I actually would have to expand to get up the number of hives they want for this. Since I am still new y'all have me questioning where I should even do this. I have the bees for a part time deal, not as my full time employment. What I would like is for one day them to take care of me in retirement. I have looked at my schedule from the last few years and I would have potential for honey production during this time frame. 
So I have to decide, make honey and have the bees better off, or make money from pollination and lose a portion of hives.....


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## mroark (Oct 2, 2012)

Jaseemtp said:


> Well for me it will be a large pollination gig as I am just small potatoes, I actually would have to expand to get up the number of hives they want for this. Since I am still new y'all have me questioning where I should even do this. I have the bees for a part time deal, not as my full time employment. What I would like is for one day them to take care of me in retirement. I have looked at my schedule from the last few years and I would have potential for honey production during this time frame.
> So I have to decide, make honey and have the bees better off, or make money from pollination and lose a portion of hives.....


With hindsight and those options I'd take the honey. If you do go with the pollination you are crazy if you don't charge them 150.00 per hive.


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## mroark (Oct 2, 2012)

Jaseemtp said:


> Well for me it will be a large pollination gig as I am just small potatoes, I actually would have to expand to get up the number of hives they want for this. Since I am still new y'all have me questioning where I should even do this. I have the bees for a part time deal, not as my full time employment. What I would like is for one day them to take care of me in retirement. I have looked at my schedule from the last few years and I would have potential for honey production during this time frame.
> So I have to decide, make honey and have the bees better off, or make money from pollination and lose a portion of hives.....


oops double post. dont seem to be able to delete it.


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