818-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 9, 1998 JINNY WILT Adams Co. Correspondent ARENDTSVILLE (Adams Co.) Adams County’s apple blossoms couldn’t wait this year for the festival held in their honor. El Nino prodded them into bloom several weeks ago. So when the festival was held May 2-3 at the South Mountain Fairgrounds near Arendtsville the blossoms were well done bloom ing. Said Larry Hull, scientist-in charge at Penn State’s Fruit Re search and Extension Center in Biglerville, “They are way ahead of schedule thanks to El Nino. This is one of the earliest seasons anybody can remember. We’re two to three weeks ahead of nor mal.” Apple growers are trying to thin the apple crop, but are not sure when to do it this year because it is “unusually early and they could over thin,” Hull said. While it’s too early to tell what kind of a crop will ultimately be harvested, Hull said he doesn’t be lieve it will be as big as last year’s. “We had the drought and a heavy crop in 1997,& he said. Pheromones Help Growers ‘Make A WOOSTER, Ohio - Do you need more honey bees in your blossoms? New chemicals may be just the "pick-up line" you need to get honey bees interest ed in your orchard. Ohio State University scien tists Jim Tew and Dave Ferree have been experimenting with synthetic pheromone attrac tants and how they can increase the pollination from flowers to fruit trees. Honey bees are the most com mon source for pollinating everything from flowers to fruit trees. Growers are now seeing the number of honey bees in their fields and orchards decrease. Varroa and tracheal NEED YOUR ’ FARM BUILDINGS PAINTED? Let us give you a price! Write: Daniel’s Painting 637-A Georgetown Rd. Ronks, PA 17572 * (or leave message) (717) 687-8262 Spray on and Brush in Painting CONSTRUCTION, INC. MANHEIM, PA (717) 65 3 - 4 °2 3 Pre-Engineered Buildings Lifetime Design Warranty Dairy Equine Self-Storage Coni nerical Apple Festival Blooms Without Blossoms The rain of the past few weeks is also creating a potential prob lem. “The warm and rainy weather is great for disease development,” Hull said. “If you are a plant pathologist you love it, if you are an en tomologist you don’t,” he added. The 43rd annual Apple Blos som Festival was also affected by the rainy weather. Showers hit the area during the two-day event At tendance was estimated between 10,000 and 12,000 people. Sponsored by the Adams Coun ty Fruit Growers Association, the fairgrounds were filled with craft dealers and food vendors as well as activities such as a petting zoo and face painting for children. Shannon Shelleman, daughter of Frances Lawver and a student at Gettysburg High School, was chosen 1998 Adams County Ap ple Queen. First runner-up was Becky Ben ner, daughter of James and Bever ly Benner, a student at Fairfield High School, and second runner up was Sara Heller, daughter of Harold and Linda Heller, a student at Biglersville High School. mite infestations have wiped out much of the wild honey bee pop ulation. The decline has been so brutal that wild honey bees have become ineffective pollination forces. Flowers and blossoms are billboards to the insect world. They're banners used by the plant to attract potential polli nators. All plants have them, though they differ in appear ance. Tew, associate professor in the Honey Bee Lab at Wooster, said, "No one puts corn tassels in a vase. Why? Because they're not as flashy as a rose or carnation - and they don’t need to be. Corn is a wind pollinator - it doesn't require honey bees or other insects for pollination. Apple trees, however, are anoth er story." In the early 1980 s, there was interest in using attractants to lure honey bees to target crops. 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Posing outside the auditorium before ceremonies to crown the 1998 Apple Queen at the Adams County Apple Blossom Festival are contestants, from left, Alexis Har tung, Shannon Shelleman, who was later chosen queen, Jessica Blake, Tiffany My ers, and Becky Benner, first runner-up. Absent when the photograph was taken was second place runner-up Sara Heller who at the time was performing with the Bigler ville High School Jazz Band in concert prior to the crowning ceremony. Posing with the contestants are Amy Baugher, flower girl, and Ryan Callahan, crown bearer. Dote’ With Honey Bees bers of honey bees, we're evalu ating the effects of honey bee attractants in apple orchards," Tew said. "The attractants bring the bees to the blossoms." Honey bees use chemical cues for survival. "Bee hives are pitch black, extremely crowded and remain between 95 and 98 degrees Fahrenheit. It's a dark, hot, close world we can't even imagine," Tew said. "In that world, chemical cues are extremely important - foods, that are Un workers, queen, drones and lar vae all possess their own chemi cal identification markers." Tew said having a market that extends from the colony to the foraging world, where they gather nectar, isn't surprising. And that is the todl used to make the chemical configuration for a synthetic honey, bee pheromone. Commercial companies have tried to duplicate the major com- # MORTON BUILDINGS 717/624-3331 3368 York Rd. Gettysburg, PA 17325 800-447-7436 (Turn to Pago B 19) ailed. 908/454-7900 P.O. Box 126, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865 Illinois only, call 1-800-426-6686
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