"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 05:11:16 +0100, "Peter Taylor"

I have a question Mary

Me too ...

So, a friend runs his own tomato nursery and buys in boxes of bees to
pollinate the plants?

Those are bumble bees, not honey bees. Honey bees don't thrive in glass
houses, it has been tried but you need very small colonies and they can't
collect enough pollen (and even less nectar) to maintain their population.

My brother I L used to have a tomato nursery and never did this
(summat about self pollination or spraying them with water or summat?)

I rely on self pollination for my tomatoes too because a) I only have a few
plants and b) I'm too idle to go round doing mucky things with camel hair
paintbrushes or even spraying or shaking.

There's no doubt though that in big commercial situations insect pollination
is more efficient than other methods. You get heavier yields and perfect
fruit rather than some mis-shapen ones. It's also expensive - swings and
roundabouts. Saves on labour though ...

Are there different breeds g of tomato that require different
processes?

I don't know. I don't think so.

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. My bee a phobic daughter spent an hour in the green house with me
the other day whist I was wiring up some new extension phones for him
... I think she'd forgotten she shared the place with over 100 bees
by the end .. ;-)

Bumble bees are delightful, they're like flying teddy bears and there's no
reason to be frightened of them. Even honey bees and wasps aren't the devils
they're often assumed to be but they are more defensive than bumble bees.

When a bumble bee feels threatened it leans over and raises its middle leg
as if to say please don't hurt me ... they very, very rarely sting. We've
moved bumble bee nests in our hands and often pick up chilled bumble bees,
blow on them gently in our cupped hands and give them a little drop of sugar
water so that they have the energy to return to their nests. I've never been
stung by a bumble bee. If you ARE stung by a bumble bee you really deserve
it. Try to get your daughter to watch them and see how beautiful and gentle
they are.

They also have an audible warning of approach, from now on the air could be
filled with the sound of entomological motor bikes - if, sadly, the bumble
bee population wasn't verging on extinction by loss of habitat and, I'm
sorry to say, ignorance.

Mary