How to Cross Pollinate Apple Trees

All varieties of apple trees need some amount of cross pollination. Pollination happens when the pollen of one flower is transferred to another flower. This is most often done by bees. Cross pollination between apple varieties needs to happen to produce the best fruit.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Bees
• Different tree varieties
• Flowers, weeds other flowering trees to attract bees

1. Choose trees based on the level of cross pollination they require. Ask experts at your garden store or tree nursery for suggestions on pairing different varieties.

2. Place apple trees near each other in your orchard that bloom at about the same time of year. Cross pollination must occur when the trees are in flower.

3. Move honey bees into your orchards when the first flowers open.

4. Plant a pollinator tree in the middle of large sets of the same variety apple trees. These pollinators are tall and don't take up much space, but will get the job done.

5. Plant apple trees in your backyard no more than 100 yards from neighboring flowering trees.

6. Allow dandelions to grow at the base of your fruit trees. Bees love dandelions and will be attracted to them throughout the season. Remove the blooms to encourage bees to move to the trees.

7. Graft a pollinating variety of apple tree into a scaffold limb of a backyard apple tree. If grafting is not possible, hang buckets of fresh blossoms from one apple tree into another.

Tips & Warnings

• In mature apple orchards there should be one honey bee hive per acre. For back yard trees, there should be enough wild bees for cross pollination.

• Place pole type pollinators every 60 to 120 feet per row in orchards

• All types of apple trees need cross pollination to make the fruit set.