![\"Apple](\"http:\/\/www.shaworchards.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/2013-05-02-13.13.01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat the pictures don’t capture is the scent.\u00a0 Apple blossoms are wonderfully fragrant, and when you put a million of those flowers in one place… well, it is kind of nice!<\/p>\n
There is one other sense that you probably wouldn’t expect to be exercised in a blooming orchard.\u00a0 It is the sound of bloom.\u00a0 All of those little flowers are really there not for our enjoyment, but to fulfil the biological imperative of reproduction, and they need help.\u00a0 The sound comes from all of the insects that find their way to the orchard and play their part in nature’s cycle.\u00a0 Funny enough, the sound of these creatures has changed through the years.<\/p>\n
We used to import domestic honey bees, but this has become increasingly expensive.\u00a0 When I was young, we’d have dozens of hives around the orchard for a couple weeks and there was a constant droning sound in the apples.\u00a0 But these days we rely more on native insects.\u00a0 We are very (very) careful about the chemicals we use, and so far we’ve seen good results from all kinds of insects that you would normally not notice.\u00a0 Bumblebees are the most conspicuous, but we see lots of smaller bees, flies, and other insects too.\u00a0 They have a more diverse, and softer sound.<\/p>\n
Hopefully they’ve been enjoying this nice weather too!<\/p>\n