Orchards begin to bloom Farmers hire beekeepers to help with the pollination process
Orchards in the Yuba-sutter area are beginning to bloom as spring approaches. Almond orchards are in full bloom with their white flowers on display, which typically occurs around mid-february. Some peach orchards have also started to see pink flowers blooming, especially along the Highway 70 and Highway 99 corridors.
If they haven’t already started to bloom, prunes aren’t far behind, said Franz Niederholzer, farm advisor of orchard systems for the area’s UC Cooperative Extension.
“They typically bloom toward the middle of March, and because this year we had a relatively dry winter, we could see them earlier,” he said. “This warm weather is pushing them along, so they are coming.”
Niederholzer said farmers hire beekeepers to bring in boxes of bees to help with the pollination process, especially with almond orchards. Bees work their way through the orchard collecting pollen on their bodies and transfer it to the blooming flowers, where the germination process takes place. The bees will also take some pollen and nectar back to their hives.
“The pollination process really only takes days, as individual flowers are viable for about 2-4 days, certainly less than a week, but because the flowers don’t bloom all at once, you have a week or so for activity,” Niederholzer said. “That’s why when it rains hard, certainly for almond growers, they won’t be too happy because they need a lot of that bee activity, and bees don’t work in the rain.”
Cooler weather can also extend the blooming period in most orchards, he said. Warmer weather can speed up the process.
“There’s no more critical time in an orchard, because this is when your crop is really set,” Niederholzer said. “Growers can work all year,
but their potential income can be set within a week or 10 days in the spring.”
Peaches and prunes are self fertile and can pollenize themselves for the most part, though, peach and prune farmers like to have some bees in their orchards to help move the pollen around, he said.
Walnut orchards also typically begin to bloom in late March and April, though unlike the other orchard crops that rely on bees, walnut trees are wind-pollinated. Pistachios also don’t rely on bees.
Once the flowers have been pollinated and fertilized, leaves begin to sprout and the fruit and nuts begin to grow.
“There’s different patterns of growth throughout the season, but (bloom) is a critical one to get them going. From there, the job really becomes about monitoring the orchards, so growers will focus on things like bugs and disease to keep their product healthy and growing,” Niederholzer said.