The fall crop of raspberries has begun. Towards the end of the summer crop, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shalmestere noticed that there were birds eating some of the raspberries before we could get to them, so she mail-ordered some netting, I bought some 6-foot bamboo stakes, and we draped netting over the bushes, confirming in the process that the bees could still get through the netting to fertilize the flowers.
But we're still seeing a lot of berries that have been nibbled. And they seem to be nibbled on a small scale -- not a whole fruit at a time, as I would expect of birds, but a good fraction of the drupelets (yes, I had to look that word up, although it makes sense in retrospect) either sucked dry or surgically removed. And yesterday while out harvesting raspberries, I caught the culprits: some smaller kind of Hymenopterids that were landing on the berries and eating them. Which is understandable, since the berries are full of sweet juice, but extremely frustrating to us. Any netting that will keep out these guys will also keep out the pollinating bees. Any pesticide that will kill or repel these guys will also kill or repel the pollinating bees. And while neither of us has been stung yet, I don't know how aggressive the berry-eating bees/hornets/yellowjackets/whatever are, and I could see them being upset at me waving them away from their dinner.
shalmestere noticed that there were birds eating some of the raspberries before we could get to them, so she mail-ordered some netting, I bought some 6-foot bamboo stakes, and we draped netting over the bushes, confirming in the process that the bees could still get through the netting to fertilize the flowers.But we're still seeing a lot of berries that have been nibbled. And they seem to be nibbled on a small scale -- not a whole fruit at a time, as I would expect of birds, but a good fraction of the drupelets (yes, I had to look that word up, although it makes sense in retrospect) either sucked dry or surgically removed. And yesterday while out harvesting raspberries, I caught the culprits: some smaller kind of Hymenopterids that were landing on the berries and eating them. Which is understandable, since the berries are full of sweet juice, but extremely frustrating to us. Any netting that will keep out these guys will also keep out the pollinating bees. Any pesticide that will kill or repel these guys will also kill or repel the pollinating bees. And while neither of us has been stung yet, I don't know how aggressive the berry-eating bees/hornets/yellowjackets/whatever are, and I could see them being upset at me waving them away from their dinner.
