As long as bloom times are the same and you have good bee populations near you, they will take care of the pollination.

Hand pollination works on small trees but it's not the preferred method. You'll definitely want bees. Much easier and they'll do a better job in most cases especially after the trees get above 6-7ft tall.

Self pollinating varieties are a good idea. There are many of those now days and the fruit is good.

Do self-pollinating trees still need bees?

gary

gary:

Good question. I'm not sure of the answer but think the self pollinating cherries would set at least some fruit without bees.

Tomatoes are shaken to pollinate, you could try that too.
I myself sometimes use an electric tooth brush, no brush on it, just to vibrate blossom. I got tomatoes in June last year.

This post was edited by Drew51 on Sat, Jan 10, 15 at 12:16