This time of year when we drive by our Hudson Valley apple orchards we start noticing that the trees have fewer and fewer apples on them, it is the height of apple picking season. Recently though one tree began to stand out. As the other trees seemed to be bare of apples this one tree at Dressel Farms in New Paltz had been left untouched.

Photo by LuAnn Hunt on Unsplash
Photo by LuAnn Hunt on Unsplash
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Turns out there is a very good reason that this tree is still covered in apples and will most likely stay that way through the rest of the apple picking season. Dressel Farms on Route 208 in New Paltz offers pick your own apples like most orchards do this time of year but they won't be picking any off this tree anytime soon.

This particular apple tree at Dressel farm has be harboring some special residences as of late and in order for them to be relocated it is going to take the folks at Dressel Farm to put on their bee keepers hat. That's right as you can see from the photo below some honey bees have set up shop.

Dressel Farms via Facebook 9-30-2021
Dressel Farms via Facebook 9-30-2021
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Back at the end of September Dressel Farms in New Paltz noticed that one of it's trees appeared to have all of the apples still on it. According to a Facebook post on September 30th they noticed that the farm apple pickers had skipped this tree, the reason soon became obvious.

I reached out to Dressel when I saw the amazing picture of the hive and ask what do they planned to do with the bees. As many of you might already know Honey Bees are very important to our Hudson Valley farms so the hive should be saved but that can require some bee keeping knowledge.

Photo by Timothy L Brock on Unsplash
Photo by Timothy L Brock on Unsplash
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I heard back from Dressel Farms and they shared that they, among many other things are also amateur bee keepers. They plan to relocate these bees into to a bee box. If they are successful they will have these bees back working the orchards next year.

Photo by Christoph Polatzky on Unsplash
Photo by Christoph Polatzky on Unsplash
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They also shared the importance of bees to the farm. Each spring they bring bees in to help with pollination. They believe these bees might have stuck around after the hives were pulled out and in turn have set up their new home at the farm.

Bees are vital, yes. Every apple blossom needs to be pollinated to produce an apple. We rent bee hives every spring to ensure full pollination. Dressel Farm via Facebook Messager

If they share more pictures while they are re-homing the bees we will be sure to pass them along. In the mean time feel free to find out the bee status for yourself. Dressel Farms is open for pick your own apples and this past weekend they had Red Delicious, Snap Dragon, Empire, Macoun and Jonagold all ready to pick.

Checkout more about Hudson Valley Bee Keeping

Hudson Valley Honey Bees at Work

Local honey is one of the many delicious local products we enjoy in the Hudson Valley. We are lucky to have a healthy honey bee population and people like the folks at HiveLand NY in Highland, New York keeping them that way. Checkout some of the tools used to make and harvest honey. Plus see a few other items made with some help from the bee.

LOOK: 30 fascinating facts about sleep in the animal kingdom

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