The Bloom Has Arrived!

It might be a few weeks late but the bloom has arrived!  About half the orchard is blooming today, which is a good thing.  Under normal circumstances, the trees usually flower around the opening of fishing.  This year, they are about 2-3 weeks behind.  But based on what I am seeing this weekend, I would say that we will have some apples this fall.  The big question remains as to how many will we have?  The Honey Crisp still haven't begun to flower yet and the State Fair which is usually one of the first to bloom, still hasn't flowered yet either.  Time will tell and that's one of the things I enjoy about the orchard, you just never know.  I've been doing this for along time now and every year, its different!
  The bees are also off to a better start compared to last year.  The dandelions this year are everywhere and that's gives them a huge boost early on. Also, now that the apples are beginning to bloom, the bees are in heaven!  I always tell people to leave your dandelion alone and let them do their thing.  They only last a few weeks and then they are gone.  But they give a huge boost of food to all pollinators.  Walking into the orchard today, with the smell of the apple blossoms and bees everywhere, it just doesn't get much better than this.  Its something that just doesn't happen all that often so we need to enjoy it while its here because just like that...it will be gone for another year.