Want Honeybees in Your Orchard?
Are hives of honeybees necessary for pollination of apples?
Whilst UK research (Free, 1970) shows the importance of bees for pollination, research elsewhere has often questioned this.
It can be argued that the number of pollen grains delivered by pollinating insects from the pollinating variety (pollinizer) to the main variety is a measure of the pollination efficiency of those insects.
Most researchers have endeavoured to compare the quality of different insect species as pollinators, by assessing their performance in isolation i.e. without any interaction with other potential insect species.
When different insect species visit flowers, however, interactions are possible making it hard to determine their relative efficiency in pollination.
Lead pollinator role
If you want honeybees to play a lead pollinator role in your orchard, extensive research advises:
When introducing honeybees to an orchard, it is important not to do this too early; if the introduction is before a significant number of flowers have opened, the bees will forage for better pollen and nectar sources and become habituated (exhibit what is called ‘flower constancy’) to another more attractive crop nearby. It can then prove difficult to encourage the bees back into the orchard
Often bees show constancy to flowers of one colour; the reasons for this are not understood. It can occasionally have implications for growers using ornamental Malus (Crab apples) as pollinators in orchards. Several of these have dark pink flowers and bees may focus either on these or on the white apple flowers, so failing to move pollen between the two efficiently
Czech studies have indicated that honeybees tend to prefer trees with abundant blossoms. This has serious consequences for varieties which frequently produce only sparse flowering, either as a consistent and inherent trait, or as a result of bienniality
In extreme cases, bees could choose to concentrate their foraging on the variety with abundant flowers and rarely visit the one with low flower abundance’
Natural habitat
The benefit of HIIVE vs traditional / framed beehives in an orchard setting is we’re not focused on honey production, but rather providing honeybees a more natural habitat to develop their colonies and pollinate your crops.
In September, bees begin to reduce boord production and focus on consolidating resources – so natural beekeepers and HIIVE stewards take on a supportive role.
Rather than relying on synthetic feeds, HIIVE stewards encourage bees to keep their own honey, ensuring they have enough stores for winter. A healthy HIIVE should have at least 5-7.5KG (coincidently the capacity of the honeyroom on a HIIVE is 7.5litres), versus 15-20KG of honey for a framed hive, to survive the lean season. If stores are low, feeding raw honey from the same hive or a simple syrup made from organic sugar is preferred.
HIIVE inspections in September are brief and respectful. The goal is to check for overall colony health, ensuring the queen is present and laying, and confirm that drones are being evicted. It’s also a good moment to reduce entrances to help bees defend against wasps or robbing from neighbouring colonies.
As nature slows down, natural beekeeping emphasises trust in the bees’ instincts. Less manipulation means less stress for the colony, allowing the bees to do what they do best.
In a nutshell: a HIIVE is less invasive meaning less work VS honey focussed beekeeping.
By introducing HIIVE to your orchard, you are introducing the structure (including the geometry, thermodynamics and hydrodynamics) of a live 200-300yr old oak tree cavity, meaning your HIIVE honeybees are allowed to focus on 3 things – their own health, the health of their colony and your crops/fruit.
