Try pruning a whole branch off instead of thinning 20-30 fruit off one. You can save lots of time by making smart pruning cuts then go back and thin. You will still have plenty of fruit.

As far as honey bees go, they aren't the only pollinator by far. Lots of politics involved with them and possibly rightly so, however there are tons of native pollinators from gnats and flys to moths.

I've given up on thinning for most of my trees and it provides for more cider apples. I would prefer to have fewer numbers of high quality apples but when I have thinned some trees severely the result is still far too many apples remaining on those trees.

This Spring I am concerned that my fruit set will be low. Most apple trees are in full bloom and I hardly see any insects in my orchard. I can't recall a year when so few insects were attending to apple flowers.

It is time consuming. I tell myself, I would rather have large fruit with good quality than many small poor quality fruit. And keep going.

One tree, a gala is so loaded if not thinned, branches would break. When I say loaded, I mean LOADED,,Incredible. I know,,I have many other pollinators. Small bees,,some cal sweat bees,and many other insects I see every spring.