# The real pollination



## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

This is how you really do the pollination.
Notice, this is not even a beekeeping channel.
This is a channel of some berry growing operation and so they are invested in the berries, not the bees.
So this is the real-deal pollination using the local insects, not migratory honey bees.


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

I'll be darned, it turns out some people actually harvest the cocoons and *sell them!*
So other people can buy and place these cocoons near their own crops AND set out the prepared "bee hives" for the next season of pollination.
Pretty slick.
So this is how the pollination can be really done - not moving the heavy boxes, but rather just some "straw bales".
Looks simple and easy.
I would not even bother with shaking the cocoons out but just sell the entire "bee hives" as whole.


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

> “We’ve determined that continuation of the program is not financially feasible. In addition, we were unable to consistently achieve the level of female replication needed to make the program successful.











A Promising Backup to the Honeybee Is Shut Down


The world’s largest almond grower has suddenly closed an eight-year research project to develop a new commercial pollinator




www.scientificamerican.com


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

msl said:


> A Promising Backup to the Honeybee Is Shut Down
> 
> 
> The world’s largest almond grower has suddenly closed an eight-year research project to develop a new commercial pollinator
> ...


So it is not "yes" or "no", but rather inconclusive in their particular setting.
They failed, but it really remains to be seen.

But when people are buying a full-blown bee hive so to pollinate their backyard patch (happens all the time) - they are much better off with just hanging about few bunches of tied up canes.
Like here:


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

GregV said:


> they are much better off with just hanging about few bunches of tied up canes.


agreed, the "backyard pollination" and "save the bees" types are much better served with native pollinators


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

Here is an example - look at 9:00 how the natural canes are well plugged up BUT just below them the plastic holes are unused.
So who knows what exactly the almond growers did in their testing, but their failure is not a resounding NO. Not to me.


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

And in general, this particular channel does not appear as if a mono-culture plantation of almonds (intensively managed).
The channel is called - "Seedlings of rare varieties".
It looks like his solitary bee operation is doing great and is a regular part of this business model.


https://www.youtube.com/c/%D0%92%D1%8F%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%BE/videos


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## Boondocks (Sep 16, 2020)

I have a couple of paw paw trees, they are very common in the woods here. They produce a yellow fruit that looks kind of like a green banana and tastes like custard. Their flowers smell like rotten meat and their main pollinators are flies and carrion beetles. 









Pawpaw: Small Tree, Big Impact (U.S. National Park Service)


Pawpaw are small trees that don't grow past 100 feet. Yet they have a big influence. They're the most commonly observed sapling in our NCR forests and are virtually immune to deer browse. They also produce the largest edible fruit native to North America!




www.nps.gov


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

Relevant link to that failed solitary bee project above:








Examination of a Managed Pollinator Strategy for Almond Production Using Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and Osmia lignaria (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)


Abstract. Pollination services provided by managed bees are essential for California almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.; Rosales: Rosaceae) production. Currently, poll




academic.oup.com


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

Went ahead and made my own back-yard pollination station.


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## kelrini (Dec 28, 2021)

GregV said:


> And in general, this particular channel does not appear as if a mono-culture plantation of almonds (intensively managed).
> The channel is called - "Seedlings of rare varieties".
> It looks like his solitary bee operation is doing great and is a regular part of this business model.
> https://www.youtube.com/c/ВячеславВолодькоapplinked/videos/


Thank you very much.


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