In the past, cranberry crops were almost totally dependant on bumblebees for pollination, but as the bumblebee population has declined and crops have increased, they have been replaced with honeybees, which work more slowly and are more easily distracted by other surrounding plants. By August most of the berries have reached full-size and have begun to turn red. By September, they are a deep red color one of the most beautiful sights of autumn. Harvesting begins in October and runs through November. The deeper the color of the cranberry, the better the market price, so sometimes farmers try to hold off harvesting, hoping for more cool nights and better colored berries.
Berries are either dry or wet harvested.
Fresh cranberries in the produce section of your grocery store are dry harvested. Wet harvested berries are processed as juice or made into sauces or relish. In wet harvesting, the night before the harvest, the bogs are flooded. The next day mechanical water reels knock the berries off the vines, and the floating cranberries are corralled and then collected. Many commercial growers belong to Ocean Spray Growers Cooperative, which processes and markets the berries.