Fresno County Blossom Trail celebrating 31 years

The Fresno County Blossom Trail kicked-off their 31st year with an opening ceremony in Selma on Friday morning.

Kristi Johnson, the Fresno County Tourism Manager, explained the blossoms have not bloomed just yet but they are expected to in the next couple of weeks

Johnson explained each year they get several phones calls from people wanting to visit the blossom trail.

"We expect to get 20 to 30,000 visitors in 3-4 week period in February and March," she said.

Ryan Jacobsen, with the Fresno County Farm Bureau, explained so far the weather has been okay for the blossoms but if temperatures dip after they bloom it can be a problem.

"These blossoms are very temperamental. They don't take to extreme cold," he said.

Once the blossoms bloom, temperatures in the low 30s and upper 20s can be a concern.

"There is a risk associated with blossom damage, we experienced it last year and we are hopefully not going to see it this year," Jacobsen explained.

Daytime temperatures also need to hit a sweet spot for the bees to start pollinating.

"Those bees don't start 55 to 57 degrees and the warmer we get the more activity you get. So we are hoping to see those days, low 60s really help bees to get a lot done."

He added the rain is welcomed but it can take a toll on the blossoms.

"They can take rain, but they don't take it in spurts where we have it for weeks on end., without that drying period. So we are hoping as these storms come in we have that dry weather that follows it for the time being just to allow those blossoms to experience that pollination time," he said.

He mentioned ideally two to five days of drying.

Jacobsen added in some fun facts about bees. He said in a bee's lifetime it will fly the circumference of the earth and a half times. A bee also only makes 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

For more information on the blossom trail click here.