Your BFF (Bee-Friendly Farm)

Bee savvy

Like other apple growers, we understand the the importance of bees and other pollinators to successful fruit production. Did you know:

• ​For most apple varieties to produce fruit, the pollen from flowers on one apple tree must be transferred to flowers on another tree? (called 'cross-pollination')
• It takes 8 to 24 pollinator visits to a single apple blossom just to produce 2-3 nice apples?
• Most of the pollen exchange done by honeybees happens when they rub against each other in the hive and then go back to the orchard to gather pollen and nectar from other trees in the orchard​

---

Show & Tell

​To help educate our customers about the important relationship between honeybees and apple-growing, we invited local  beekeepers from Bee-Happy Honey to talk about pollination in this video about apple blossom time on our farm.

This video helps us 'show and tell' our farm visitors about the the importance of honeybees to sustainable apple farming, but for us it's more than just talk....

10 ways we protect and foster bees

​​We use responsible and ecological farming practices that blend organic and conventional methods, including these bee-friendly practices:

1. Managing our orchard to proactively minimize and mitigate pest and disease issues, eg: pruning, mowing, thinning
2. Using a minimal spray program using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as recommended by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
3. Investing in modern sprayer equipment including low-drift spray towers to direct the spray horizontally into the apple trees providing better coverage and reducing the amount of product applied 
4. Monitoring pest levels using special insect traps and lures to determine when and how to use control methods
5. Combining organic and synthetic products, selecting those with lowest impact to the environment, beneficial insects and pollinators.  We do not use any products containing neonicotinoids
6. Building relationships with local beekeepers and notifying them in advance of spraying insecticides so they can take precautions with their hives
7. Never spraying any insecticides during blossom time
8. Spraying only during low-wind conditions, generally early in the morning between 5:30 - 7:30 am before bees and other pollinators get active
9. Mowing the grass under the apple trees to avoid the use of herbicides in our Pick-Your-Own area and provide food for bees and beneficial insects
10. Farm-scaping to encourage ample forage and natural water sources for bees and other pollinators like building farm ponds and leaving meadows and hedgerows around the orchard with ground covers, wildflowers and plantings.

Plus a new Bee-Garden!


A couple of years ago, we added a new feature in our orchard - a 'Bee Garden'.  It's nestled in the sunny hillside overlooking our orchard and we've planted and sown pollinator-friendly flowers that provide nector and pollen for bees after our apple blossoms are done.  These include  perennials like Chives, Mint and Phlox, and  annuals like Cosmos, Zinnias, Marigolds, Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans.

Visit Us this Fall!