Grumpy's Castle; Friday 18 June 2010 --
Well, the Raspberries finally showed their color; and the rejuvenated row shows lots of promise, as these two pictures illustrate.
The first berry picked was given to the Grand Mother, along with this entire handful that Grumpy found on this first foray along the row. Grumpy had tasted a later pick while he was gathering the remainder of the handful.
The astute reader may wonder about the small size of these examples; Grumpy believes that their diminutive size is a result of having no Orchard (Mason) bees present to pollinate the flowers when they began blooming a couple weeks ago.
All of the pollination so far has been accomplished by a crew of what Grumpy calls "Bumble Bees"; these bees are nearly twice (or three times!) as big as the Orchard bees that Grumpy has had in past years. Grumpy observed as many as two dozen flitting from flower to flower on a warm summer day a week or so ago.
Orchard bees are much more industrious than any other bee (including Honey bees!) at the job of pollinating fruits. Grumpy recommends that any gardener who is serious about growing fruit crops such as apples or raspberries, invest in a small package of Orchard bees -- about 20-25 cocoons, each of which houses a fully pupated, but dormant bee. When the cocoons are exposed to warm weather (about 59 degrees and above) they will chew their way out of the cocoon and immediately go about their business. It is therefore very important to keep the package of cocoons in a refrigerator -- NOT FREEZING!! -- until you are assured that the daytime temperatures are going to remain in the 60-plus degree temperature range AND that there are flowers -- not necessarily fruit flowers -- for the bees to feed on.
Later, Grumpy will post a description of the Orchard bee "home" he has prepared so he can rehabilitate his "lost" colony.
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