Most varieties are self-sterile and therefore cannot be productive without pollen from a compatible variety. Growers have productive orchards by interplanting compatible varieties with coinciding blooming periods, providing bouquets of flowers from other varieties, or supplying the beekeepers with pollen to use in pollen inserts. Apples, pears, and sweet cherries must receive pollen from another variety because their own pollen is not compatible. Because apples are quite attractive to bees, they often attract many wild bees from the surrounding area. However, large numbers of bees must be present to achieve adequate fruit set.
Honey bees visit pears primarily for pollen.
Since the nectar is very dilute and unattractive, pears pose more of a pollination problem than do apples. Move bees in at 25 to 50 percent bloom. Honey bees work pears best when colonies are first put into the orchard. Later, they tend to be attracted to competing flowers in the area. Use twice as many colonies as you would use for apples in the same locality.