. Cranberries; : the national cranberry magazine. Cranberries. CONTROL CRANBERRY INSECTS NOT POLLINATORS By William E. Tomlinson, Jr. It has been well documented by several investigators that cranberry flowers are pollinated almost ex- clusively by bees. Wild bees, par- ticularly bumblebees are important natural pollinators of cranberries. Their numbers, however, vary lo- cally and from year to year due to uncontrollable factors so that many growers have found it good in- surance to keep or rent honeybees for optimum pollination. Whether honeybees are used for pollination or dependence is plac
. Cranberries; : the national cranberry magazine. Cranberries. CONTROL CRANBERRY INSECTS NOT POLLINATORS By William E. Tomlinson, Jr. It has been well documented by several investigators that cranberry flowers are pollinated almost ex- clusively by bees. Wild bees, par- ticularly bumblebees are important natural pollinators of cranberries. Their numbers, however, vary lo- cally and from year to year due to uncontrollable factors so that many growers have found it good in- surance to keep or rent honeybees for optimum pollination. Whether honeybees are used for pollination or dependence is placed in naturally occurring populations of wild bee pollinators it benefits cranberry growers to conduct their pest control operations in a manner least harmful to these pollinators. To stress this fact, since 1956 the Massachusetts cranberry insect charts have cautioned against ap- plying insecticides during bloom. With proper attention to insect conditions on the bog this can usu- ally be accompUshed with the spring insects because they all occur and should be controlled before bloom for the least crop injury. Unfortunately the same is not true with cranberry fruitworm and summer brood Sparganothis fruit- worm. The prolonged period that an individual cranberry bog is in bloom (approximately a month) means that early opening blossoms have set fruit before the last^loom is even open. It is in this late bloom period that the conflict be- tween insect control and polUnators most frequently occurs because it is also during this late bloom period that cranberry and Sparganothis fruitworm flight and egg laying activity is at its peak. It is neither wise nor necessary to wait for the complete cessation of bloom to apply control measures for these fruitworms. Cage tests by Marucci in New Jersey showed that vines exposed to pollinators in suit- able weather for a week during the 12 peak of bloom set their optimum crop and continuing the exposure until the close of bloom does not apprecia
Size: 2206px × 1133px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcontributorumassamherstlibraries, bookspons
