Our cover story this issue is about bees . Of course , we all know how important bees are for pollination , but there is much to understand about how to optimise their use in orchards and keep both bees and trees satisfied .
Editor ' s Note
Good buzz
Jenny ' s picture ?
Our cover story this issue is about bees . Of course , we all know how important bees are for pollination , but there is much to understand about how to optimise their use in orchards and keep both bees and trees satisfied .
Dr Doug Somerville of NSW
DPI will be running a series of workshops on bees for orchards , so it seems timely to take a look at just how bees operate .
The big news in this issue is all about the first shipments of Australian nectarines to China . John Moore spent more than a month over there at the start of the season , and is now back there again for the second round of Now in Season promotions .
It sounds like the Chinese have really taken to “ Mr Nectarine ” ( see page 5 ), let ’ s hope they take to the real nectarines with just as much enthusiasm !
It was a bit of a shaky start to exports , and indeed the season in general , with cool weather delaying harvest and reducing sugar accumulation in fruit . I know some of the first fruit I bought at the supermarket were , well , not ideal .
It ’ s also really heartening to hear that the systems approach to fruit fly management is working .
Despite this , the low-chill growers are reporting a bumper season , with both volumes and prices excellent . This is partly due to the delay in harvesting southern fruit , which resulted in a perfect season dismount – as one finished the other started . If only we could arrange things so well every year !
It ’ s also really heartening to hear that the systems approach to fruit fly management is working . The loss of dimethoate and fenthion has been a source of intense anxiety for years , and even resulted in growers leaving the industry . It is fantastic to hear that we are successfully growing great quality stonefruit without using these chemicals . Good news for growers , the environment , and consumers as well .
-Jenny Ekman summerfruit . com . au December 2016 | Australian Stonefruit Grower 3