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Pollination prices

365K views 353 replies 119 participants last post by  soarwitheagles 
#1 ·
I wonder if we can get a thread going for the posting of the going or standard pollination rates for various crops.
 
#121 ·
Around here, in the Fraser Valley (south-west B.C.), the commercial pollinator I worked for last year gave the following price ranges for pollination contracts when he was lecturing at the Bee Masters 2012 course:

Blueberries - $75 to $100 per colony
Raspberries - $50 per colony
Cranberries - $115 per colony
Pumpkin/Squash - $50 per colony
Apples, etc - $50 per colony

A few caveats would be:
- a standard pollination unit here is usually defined as a single brood box containing a laying queen, 8 frames of bees including at least 4 frames of brood in all stages.
- large contracts will be on the lower end of the scale (or less, for example, some big guys try to lowball at ~$60 for blueberries in order to get contracts). Small-scale beekeepers can get the higher prices for smaller contracts the commercial operations don't want to bother with.
- this year prices may be a bit higher on average due to a shortage of colonies for blueberry pollination contracts. Normally there is a larger presence of big commercial operators from Alberta in this area through blueberry pollination, but due to poor spring weather (and colony growth) for the past few years many have decided not to pour packages or over-winter colonies here.
 
#127 ·
I haved heard of vegetable crop pollinators who get paid every time the trailer load of hives is moved to a new crop. Do these hives make any honey crop at all? Or is the income exclusiovely from the pollination? How often would those hives need feeding?
 
#128 ·
. Do these hives make any honey crop at all? Or is the income exclusiovely from the pollination? How often would those hives need feeding?
Not unless they are close to a swamp or bay..... I feed them once while on the melons.... seems to tide them over. Bees will starve on any of the crops I am involved with... blueberries included.
 
#129 · (Edited)
One of my buddies got $140 (out of $165 total) from a broker for almonds out here in California this recent February. Another averaged $163 / colony direct, and the luckiest of all got $250 / hive during the last week before the flowers opened.

Now, these guys overwinter out here in the eucalyptus and feed the hello out of them. They have 12 to 14 frames of brood and are increasing hard when pollination starts. You need to put a pollen trap on them a day or two before the flowers start accepting the pollen.

Avocadoes got $40 to $45 per hive and they need a lot of them. All the trees near the beehives are loaded with young avocadoes, and those a few trees away aren't that impressive. Some varieties need an attractant sprayed onto the flowers to get the bees interested in them.

We all should talk about prices instead of being tight-lipped. It helps prevent unintentional low-balling. I got low-balled while I was en route to buy 30 more hives for a "desperate" avocado grower. That trip cost us $240 in fuel and misc. trip expenses. Now I have to think twice about helping that guy again next time...

We don't get much for orange trees - the nectar flow is so strong that lots of guys are happy just to get the honey. One of the few crops that make lots of honey in this monoculture world.

Sage was almost non-existent this season, but buckwheat and sumacs were good. Mostly a fair to poor year this year in Southern California.
 
#139 ·
The "signal" plants - Bradford Callery Pear and Willow - that bloom right before the almonds do are blooming right now in So.Cal. The almonds should be blooming in less than 2 weeks. If you get a call this late, ask for your highest price!

We had a fairly poor Eucalyptus bloom - this was the typical "off year" for most trees - and the rain has been very light so far. Late, heavy spring rains could save the year, but so far, 2013 is not looking that good for honey production around here. I hope to get up in an airplane again as soon as Spring bloom begins and do some scouting.
 
#140 ·
Hello!
Pollen Honey is another viable choice in the bee pollen products. Normally, honey is filtered and everything else from it is removed in the separation process. With this more raw and organic process though, some of the pollen is left in the honey after the combs have been cultivated. The reason for this is the aforementioned health benefits that it adds to the finished product. By the same token, the honey also makes the bee pollen tolerable to the palette. you know more
 
#141 · (Edited)
Beeserious - 6 frames of brood with 8 frames of bees are good enough to pollinate very hard if they are increasing, especially if you add a pollen trap for 1-2 days before the anthesis time period (about 5 days for almonds) when pollen is accepted from stamen to the style and into the carpel (or however the individual flower works in other species - angiosperms vs gymnosperms - I have to read up on wikipedia and pollinator.com), as the bees will usually double up the pollen effort (say 40% of the colony after pollen as opposed to 20% before the the trap was placed). Exact splitting the right amount of time before the haul up to the almonds is still an art - they want a good feeding well before the trip, but NOT when they get there!

Thanks for mentioning that price! I'd enjoy getting that much for lots of small colonies if I can, but I would probably boost those 4-framers up a frame of brood and combine a shake of queenless nurse bees with them, too. Pollinator colonies need to be larger than that, or they won't do much for the orchard. If it were MY almond orchard AND my bees, I'd probably try to balance my splits with a minimum of 8 frames of brood and 10 frames of bees with honey box on top, comb already drawn but not filled, if I could.

I'd really like to hear from long-time pollinators if there are better arrangements than this, also to hear from almond growers and other crop scientists who really get into it! I'd love to know all the best procedures and offer the best pollination practices to the customers.
 
#148 ·
Is there any build up in an apple orchard, or is more or less a "wash"?

If they were not in the apple orchard would they be out getting some honey flow? Yea... I guess they would. Guess a medium per hive in the SC may/june flow would add up...
 
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