# Considering bees....do they help garden production?



## imthedude (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi all.

New to this forum. Usually post in the gardening and preservation forums on HT.

I'm considering adding bees to our list of things we keep at our place, primarily to help the garden and out fruit trees. Obviously they are pollinators, but by keeping bees do any of you notice an increase in production in your garden by say 20% or something along those lines?

Just curious. TIA.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

The only time that honeybees would be beneficial to a vegetable garden would be if there were a specific variety which requires them and there are none. All are capable of being pollinated by other types of insects. The main ones which require that would be squash/pumpkin, cucumber, and melons. Those vegetables do very well in our local community gardens and there has probably never been a single honeybee visit since established in 1999. 

However, commercial growers who may grow those in huge fields do often use bees since many pollinating insects would have their homes in non-productive land far removed from the center of the field. There is one local beekeeper who sells pumpkin honey but I know the source and most is squash. Same nectar either way except that pumpkin honey sounds better than squash honey.

Martin


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## Queen Bee (Apr 7, 2004)

We were planting more and more seeds each yr.. and getting less and less each yr... Two yrs. after I installed my bees (onto new wax), our garden exceeded our all time production! 

But please remember bees are opportunist! They send out forage bees to only the biggest/best spots! If you offer 3 cucumber plants and there is an acre of wildflowers next door...guess where your bees will be???? 

I hope to never be without bees again!


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## johng (Feb 14, 2009)

Yes, my cucumbers and squash are without a doubt producing more fruit than they did before I had bees. My corn ears are bigger and have more kernels. I have not really noticed any difference in my beans though.


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## notbutanapron (Jun 30, 2011)

Let me just say I sure as bleep noticed when I DIDN'T have bees....

Also known as, "What do you mean, NO lemons this year?"


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

johng said:


> Yes, my cucumbers and squash are without a doubt producing more fruit than they did before I had bees. My corn ears are bigger and have more kernels. I have not really noticed any difference in my beans though.


Size of an ear of corn is from genetics, not pollination. Even if only half the silks are pollinated, the ear will generally be normal size with lots of gaps where the missing kernels would have been.

Martin


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## Usingmyrights (Jan 10, 2011)

My parent's neighbor keeps a garden going pretty much year around amd has said that he has seen a huge production increase since my dad got his first hive.


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## RedRidge (Jan 28, 2013)

I can tell you that the year we got our first two hives our harvest was up 75%.
I ended up canning 104 qts of beans that summer - ugh!!! LOL

So yes, they will increase your harvest, but I'm certain how much depends on a multitude of factors.

And be careful... they multiple like bunnies... our hives have doubled by swarms recaught and/or splits each year.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

RedRidge said:


> I can tell you that the year we got our first two hives our harvest was up 75%.
> I ended up canning 104 qts of beans that summer - ugh!!! LOL


Honeybees are not pollinators for the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. The blossoms are already pollinated by the time they are recognizable as a blossom. Honeybees are unable to enter very easily. Studies have shown that there is no difference in harvest with or without the presence of honeybees. Therefore any increase in harvest would be from some other factor. However, honeybees WILL assist in pollinating P. coccineus (runner) and P. lunatus (lima) although neither require it.

Martin


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

I agree, beans aren't pollinated by bees. However, I know that my garden has done better overall ever since a wild swarm moved in a few years back


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## RedRidge (Jan 28, 2013)

Paquebot said:


> Honeybees are not pollinators for the common bean,...
> 
> Martin


yes... depends on the type... these were P. coccineus... although we had some top crop that year too - P. vulgaris
Point was everything that "could" be pollinated did well that year.
That's what got us hooked on the bees.

Several different vegetables are big around here as many of us move our hives to commercial fields.
You have to be careful about where are growing and we never keep the honey from those fields as we don't have as much control over what is growing around them. but the commercial lease fees paid by the growers make it worth it... just move the pallets in in the spring, out in the summer.
Then up to the mountains for sourwood.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

RedRidge said:


> yes... depends on the type... these were P. coccineus... although we had some top crop that year too - P. vulgaris
> Point was everything that "could" be pollinated did well that year.
> That's what got us hooked on the bees.


Last year would have been a good example to see if honeybees would visit bean blossoms. My field gardens were within visual sight of 2 hives placed by Harris Moran to pollinate about a quarter-acre of cucumbers for seed. My garden had probably combined 300 squash and melon plants and there was not a minute that one could not see bees from sunup to sundown. In the midst of it all were 50-60 bean varieties which included all 3 major types plus cowpeas and edamame. Never once did I see any type of bee near the beans. At same time, there was a strip about 30' wide by 200' long on one side which had a lot of white clover. That was always quite busy with honeybees. With the extreme drought conditions, I would have expected activity on beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, and other self-pollinators but there was nothing. 



> Several different vegetables are big around here as many of us move our hives to commercial fields.
> You have to be careful about where are growing and we never keep the honey from those fields as we don't have as much control over what is growing around them. but the commercial lease fees paid by the growers make it worth it... just move the pallets in in the spring, out in the summer.
> Then up to the mountains for sourwood.


Around here, there are a lot of canning companies but none are doing anything which requires bees. The main one which requires bees are pumpkins and squash. There are a number of "pumpkin farms" and there are several beekeepers who are able to offer pumpkin honey as a result. I don't know of any who are paying hive rental fees as the amount of honey obtained is considerable from those huge blossoms. 

After 2 years of gardening with bees, I'll be returning to gardens which haven't seen a honeybee for many years. It will be where I gardened from 2005 to 2010 with excellent harvests. 2011 and 2012 were where I probably killed a few hundred bees just walking and driving beside the garden but harvest was not better because of their presence. But if I were to want to grow an acre or two of pumpkins, I'd definitely be calling on several of my beekeeping contacts. 

Martin


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## solidwoods (Dec 23, 2005)

imthedude

Dude I would set up bees for all the benefits of bees.
Honey teaching others pollinates. (I think I should have used some commas?)ound:

Also for fruit trees and allot of vegs,,, (there's those commas) you can see how many flowers didn't get pollinated. Just keep an eye on them and if the flower didn't get pregnant that can show the ratio of germination. 
You'd have to do that anyway (before and after bee addition) to prove bees increase the rate of pollination. 
jim


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

you can put the hive in the middle of your garden ,, and 9 out of ten you will not see a bee there ,,my hive sat 15 from a pair ,,30 feet from a chokecherry tree ,, and 5 more less then 100 , and not a honey bee on any til I had 8 hives going


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

The farm where my garden was also has an orchard with about a dozen varieties of apples, 2 different pears, and 2 peaches. The trees which attracted bees from first blossom to last were the peaches. When it was down to just a few peach blossoms left, there would always be a bee working them. Least favorite were the pears which had very little insect activity of any kind. What really attracted them was some pak choy which was allowed to bolt and flower. There was so much activity that one could hear them from 5' away.

Martin


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## BobbyB (Apr 6, 2009)

I have seen guys plant up to 300 acres of cucumbers in one field here. Then about the time the first few blooms appear, there will be 3-4 semi trailer loads of hives set out in all 4 directions. 

The cukes are all pulled at one time and the bees are picked up and hauled to their next job. 

I am sure farther West in what is known as the Winter Garden area they plant other crops that they use bees on, but right here, I have just seen them on cucumbers. 

A good friend of my son helps his uncle doing this.


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