On Hogarth Range, bees are buzzing and Southview Orchard’s stone fruit trees are bursting with pink blossoms.
About 90 per cent of the stone fruit blossoms have been pollinated, and the bees are working their way through the last block of nectarine trees.
The blossoms arrived three weeks early on John and Frieda de Kleuver’s farm, west of Casino in northern New South Wales.
“We’re looking at a consistent blossom this year. We’ve had inconsistent years in the past, but this year it’s absolutely magic,” Mr de Kleuver said.
“I think it’s the wet weather we had earlier in the year that actually helped us now, which is good.”
The couple was optimistic the conditions would result in a bumper crop this October.
“We always have a positive mind and we hope we have a bumper crop. At this stage, everything is great,” Ms de Kleuver said.
The European honey bees behind the pollination belonged to neighbours but flew to the orchard daily to collect pollen.
“The bees are out in full, and it’s beautiful. They’re buzzing all over the place. There are thousands upon thousands of them,” Mr de Kleuver said.
“They come in each day at 10 o’clock in the morning once it warms up, and they stay till about four in the afternoon and then they go home.”
A source: https://www.abc.net.au/
