Once upon a time on usenet Derald wrote:
"~misfit~" wrote:

Once upon a time on usenet Derald wrote:
"~misfit~" wrote:

So it seems I had half of the answer, knowing about 'buzz
pollination' of tomato flowers. A quick Google gave me the other
half (now that 10+ flowers have dropped off each of the two
sprays). An electric toothbrush seems to be the best way to
pollinate tomato flowers - the vibrations cause the pollen to fall
onto the style the same way as a bumble bees vibrations do.

Now I just need to find a cheap battery powerd toothbrush. I just
tickled the three or four remaining flowers with my Braun Oral-B
but it would be nicer to have a dedicated cheaper tool for the job.

Good idea. How do you know which model to use? Seems to me one
would need to try to match the bumblebees' frequencies.

A quick 'pop-science' article on buzz pollination;
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/sc...buzz.html?_r=0

After a bit of research it seems that there's a range of frequencies
that work. Different (non-apis) bees used for tomato pollination
produce different frequencies. Here in NZ we have four species of
bumble bee and, while I was unable to find their 'sonication' (buzz
pollination) frequencies it seems they all manage the job. From what
I've been able to find nobody has researched the frequency of
whatever native bee evolved alongside the various Solanaceae
varities.

I live in the middle of NZs main market garden area (Pukekohe) and
there is a company which supplies especially designed cardboard
bumble bees nests complete with inhabitants to greenhouses (along
with parasitic wasps that prey on aphids and a whole bunch of other
beneficial insects). I used to know someone, a friend of a friend,
who worked for them but that was a long time ago. This isn't that
company - they were commercial only.
http://www.biobees.co.nz/Product.html However it seems that, in the
last few years a few outfits have sprung up doing similar things.
A casual Google search hit on several online sources here in the
States, all selling Bombus bees under the same brand name (Natupol).
Although all provide instructions for use, none of them advises how to
maintain a viable local bee population. Why would that be, one
wonders....


Probably because bumble bee nests are short-lived, a season at most. However
it's possible to bone up on all things bumble bee and make (or purchase)
excelleny nesting sites and encourage (or capture) new young queens and
establish new nests.

Also a lot of these commercial 'products' are aimed at greenhouse growers of
tomatoes and include a (limited) supply of 'nectar' (often diluted low grade
apis honey). While bumble bees can exists mostly on pollen, as in a tomato
greenhouse, they also need a quantity of nectar. As tomatoes don't provide
it commercially supplied for growers nests incorporate a certain amount,
enough to keep the nest viable for six weeks or so, depending on supplier.

As for electronic solutions there are several on the market - again
domestic and commercial units, and again I'm having trouble finding
out about commercial units as they all seem to have their websites
'gated' behind customer log-ins. They don't want to be bothered by
the hoi polloi. As far as domestic buzz pollination devices go the
most common cheap single speed device runs at 38,000 vibrations per
minute (38kvpb)which is equal to 633Hz
http://www.amazon.com/VegiBee-Garden...S166DSHFJ2G K
and their more expensive multi-speed model
http://www.amazon.com/VegiBee-Garden.../dp/B00CJHMMXA
has five settings from 29kvpm to 44kvpm or 483 to 733Hz. Alas I'm
yet to find a NZ supplier.

I would hazard a guess that the single speed 38kvpm model is aimed
mainly at tomatoes and the multispeed model can be used more
efficiently with other species of plants that require buzz
pollination.
Not bad. The single-speed battery jobbie can be had for roughly
$19.00 (US) plus shipping here. I'd still try an off-the-rack
supermarket toothbrush first, though.

The downside of living in a Pacific Paradise is the relatively small
consumer base. So far I haven't been able to source an electric pollinator
here. Heck, I haven't even been able to find a 'throwaway' battery
toothbrush - at least online. The last time I was in the supermarket they
had their own brand of rechargable toothbrushes that were cheaper than the
Braun brushes on the next shelf but were still $25.

Being a broke invalid with social anxiety as well as chronic back pain I
don't get out much and when I do it's an efficient trip, get what I need and
get home. (Also I have a 30 year old car that I maintain myself because I
can't afford to pay someone else to do it and I *can* as it doesn't have too
much in the way of electronic gizmos. I got it cheaply as it'd been
'cooked', radiator run dry seven years ago and despite driving with a light
foot the rattles are starting to get worryingly louder lately.) On top of
the anxiety I don't need the temptation of seeing things that I can't really
afford. However I must save up a bit of morphine and make an effort to 'shop
around' because I *know* I've seen battery toothbrushes somewhere, sometime.


Cheers,
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy
little classification in the DSM*."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)
(*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)