Issue 4   Volume 2    Winter 2001

Welcome to the fifth issue of our apple club newsletter. We hope that you enjoy it. 

Fruit tree pollination

Around the world every year millions and millions of apples are harvested. All this is thanks to our pollinating insects and chief among these are the bees. The reason for this is a simple one. For an apple to grow it must contain seeds. And to get seeds you need pollination. 

Here in Ireland two main types of bees pollinate apples. There are bumble bees and honey bees. Bumblebees are hardy insects and are well adapted to flying in our cold spring weather. Honeybees on the other hand prefer it a bit warmer. Maybe this is because they're smaller than the bumblebee, or perhaps because the type of honeybee which is kept by Irish beekeepers originated in the Mediterranean region. However, their popularity here is justified, because for the beekeeper they have good characteristics. They are not too aggressive (stinging only occasionally); they produce lots of honey and reproduce quickly. 

Unfortunately, their dislike of cool spring weather, when apples can flower means that they're not necessarily the ideal pollinator. And so science has gone in search of a better bee. And where else would one look but in the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan, Kyryzystan and Uzbekistan. In April of 1999 when the apples were in bloom two American scientists went looking for honeybees suited to apples. The location was in the Oxul river canyon near the Tien Shan Mountains. They ascended to a height of 6,500 feet where 4,000 feet below them the Oxul River raged through its gorge. Towering all around were snow covered mountain ridges reaching elevations of 13,000 feet. After descending one thousand feet to some steep-sloping meadows the first honeybee colony was found. Over the next few days a number of colonies were located, one high up in the mountains near the border with China. 

When the scientists returned to America they carried out all sorts of measurements and tests to identify these honey bees. To their delight they were able to conclude that they had found a honeybee new to science (although well known to the people of Tien Shan). The next step (which will commence in spring) is to determine if these bees offer any advantages over our long-loved Mediterranean type. 

_________________________________________________