Increase BEE Visits to Your Crops

BEE 52

Bee Food Attractant

BEE-52 treated crops will attract and hold pollinating insects in the target area, assuring maximum crop set, larger size and better shape of fruit and vegetables.

Pollination….the first step to high quality crops.

Most fruit and vegetable crops require pollination by visiting insects, transporting pollen from flower to flower. In other words, most crops can’t get the job done by themselves! They need those visiting bees and other pollinators to “set the crop”.

Competition….even in the fields!

When crops compete with nearby weeds and other blooming crops for the attention of the pollinating insects, the result can often be a poorly set crop, small and misshapen.

Time is short….as little as four hours!

The time when a blooming crop can be pollinated is very short. With some blossoms, it is as little as four hours. For most crops, the window of opportunity for that blossom to become a fruit or a vegetable is only one or two days. When the blossom is ready, the visiting insect must be there or pollination won’t take place.

How much is enough….get the job done.

Most blossoms require at least 6 to 8 bee visits to each blossom to get the job done. When apples are small or poorly shaped, or the cucumbers are crooked, the chances are that there were not enough visits by pollinating insects during that critical time period.

• Safety Data Sheet
• Label

Facts About Bees & Pollination

Bees, which are commonly referred to as pollinators, collect and transfer pollen while foraging for nectar. This means growers must strive to keep bees in the target area and minimize loss of bees to more desirable, competing forage (crops, weeds, etc.). Although there are nearly 1,000 species of bees, only a small number are useful pollinators in crops.

While searching for nectar, bees will travel 3 to 5 miles from their hives covering as many as 16,000 acres. Bees tend to work down the rows rather than across the aisle space, and one bee will visit 50 to 100 flowers on a single trip.

Weather Conditions

Weather has a great effect on bee activity. Temperatures below 60¼F, wind velocities of more than 15 mph and low light intensity will likely result in reduced bee activity.

In addition, blooming crops can also be affected by weather conditions. At 60¼F to 70¼F, pollination occurs with few problems. Above 90¼F, however, pollination is unlikely to occur due to rapid deterioration of the embryo sac within the seed.

Crops

Crops with low sugar concentrations of nectar are not attractive to bees and are difficult to pollinate. Cucumbers, for example, require as many as 15 to 20 bee visits per bloom to achieve complete pollination, while melons need only 8 to 10 visits per bloom. Therefore, crops and weeds with higher sugar concentrations of nectar than the designated target area have the ability to draw bees away.

Sugar Concentration of Nectar in Some Crops & Weeds in Declining Order of Attractiveness to Bees

Product Details

BEE-52 is a food supplement formulated with essential food elements for pollinating insects. BEE-52 contains no pheromones. Its attraction is derived through its formulation of natural stimuli which increase the number of bees and pollinating insects in the crop target area. BEE-52 attracts the various bees to the bloom and also holds the pollinating insects in the area for longer periods of time, thus increasing the probability of a more complete pollination. BEE-52 may be applied when there is moisture on the bloom, in the late evening or early morning. BEE-52 may be applied with most fungicides and other non-insecticide applications.

BEE 52 will help keep bees in the target areas (blooming crops) and out of the competing areas such as weeds and cover crops. BEE-52’s easy-to-mix wet-able powder formulation is especially attractive to pollinating insects.