Summer is well under way and things seem to be going fine for the moment. As it turned out, the winter injury to the trees was worse than I previously thought. Extended periods of really cold temps did quite a bit of damage. The buds turn black and when I open them up, they are all black on the inside. They froze! Although it doesnt hurt the tree too bad, they should be fine by next spring. The ones that took the brunt are Honey Crisp.
The other topic on my mind at the moment is our bees. I have had 3 hives die outright this year! The most likely cause is pesticides. People just dont have any idea what damage they are doing and need to be much more cautious. You might be spraying for mosquitoes and that product is also killing other things too. Remember that a bee can travel 3-5 miles one way just to find food. We are ALL responsible and need to take steps to help the bees in any way we can. Farms, Golf courses, Parks, Schools, Property owners, we all have an interest in this. If you have to spray, please be careful and know what you are spraying and what else it might kill besides weeds or bugs. Educate yourself, PLEASE.
As for the trees that have apples, things look good. The extra rain helped and at this rate, we should have a decent crop come fall. Lets hope it remains s
