At this point I would leave them as is. Most will say that is bad advice but the idea of growing fruit is for you to get as much as possible. I’ve rolled 55 gallon drums up under the trees many years to prop the branches up so they literally were not laying on the ground. I learned about propping up branches from Stephen Hayes videos on youtube. I got a lot of branch breaks before then. He uses branches with a natural y in them. Sure I tried propping up branches before but it works much better his way.
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My Kieffer tends to have big clusters. Late cold snaps reduced my overall amount of pears so I choose to let the big clusters remain. They are getting heavy now and I supported the ones that I thought were likely to break.
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Some beautiful pears this year though I do wish there were more of them. Sometimes beetles try to eat holes in my pears and as one of the pictures shows you it does not always work out for them.
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Here is a blow up of a beetle that was a pear eater that was caught by one of my insect eating bugs! 
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Clark, are any of those ripe? I’ve just picked my Ubileen. I had trouble telling when they were done and picked one each on:
7/15- way too early
7/22- edible
7/26- not bad, almost
7/29 (today)- good, but from the color it looks like the center is about to start rotting
They aren’t super flavorful, but they are decent and ripen very early. Both the kids liked them a lot, though one like a William’s Pride apple better, while the other liked the pear.
There was a bit of bit of core browning, so I picked the rest. There were 10-11 on the branch (2014 graft) and I managed to get 9. Trapping is a pain, but 80-90% is a nice improvement over the animals eating them all.
Core browning (12 brix):
The rest:
A few weeks ago (too early):
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Bob,
It’s just a shade early this year because all the fruit is very late in comparison to most years. The majority of the harvest are very close. I did eat one Drippin’ Honey which was better than words can even describe. Nice looking pears Bob!
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My Drippin p’ Honey. I had two from a 2015 graft that I forgot about. Both fruit are cracked badly. This one is worse than the other so I picked it and leave the other. Not sure when it will ripen. You and @BobVance are ahead of me. My William’s Pride just turns some red. Long way from completely red.
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Drippin’ Honey is given to cracking sometimes if the rains are heavy.
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We do have a few heavy rain esp. The last Monday one that also brought down a peach branch.
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Just got an Ubileen this year, so I was interested to read your report. I think it’s the first time I’ve read a description of what the fruit tasted like. Can you tell me anything else about it? Do you notice any disease issues? Mine looks very healthy thus far.
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I don’t think I’m that far ahead of you- the apple I showed was one of the first ripe on the tree, as evidenced by it falling off on it’s own. Most of the others are about 1/2 red. This one is only 85% red, as the lighter part is near my index finger. Also, the apples look much darker red after being shined. Maybe my daughter was eating with her eyes when she said that it was the best apple ever. It’s also been a while since she had an apple, as she just got back from 5 weeks of badminton training in Thailand.
That looks horrible. Some of my apples are cracking like that (mostly the russets), but I don’t think it is affecting my Asian pears. I’m afraid to look now…
Yes, it seems to be pretty healthy for me. It’s a strong grower as well. The graft that fruited took over a bit and is now half the tree, with a wider caliper than the host (Fondante Lille on Quince). I also have some grafted to OHxF87 which is growing pretty quickly, but hasn’t fruited yet.
It was part way between crunchy and melting, moderately juicy and medium sweet. Not the highest flavored pear, but not bad. Especially for the season. I may be able to add some more after I’ve sampled the rest of the fruit. Of the ripe one, I only had a bit, as we split it 4 ways.
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Thank you for the information on Ubileen.
Potential stupid question: I had heard that Euro pears should be picked from the tree, given 2-4 weeks of chilling in the fridge, and then ripened. (Since I have never grown Euro pears, I have a lot of book knowledge, but little practical experience). Is that what you did with your Ubileen or no?
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Badminton is popular in Thailand. Years ago, my college roommate here was a junior badminton champion from Tahailand. When we played him, he ran us ragged. Hope your daughter had fun while there.
In the past, my first few dropped WP were not even fully ripe. Not sure why they dropped. WP hangs on for a long time. One year, I let the last one hung for over month after I picked the first ripe one. It tasted great.
I hope your Ubileen eating quality will improve as the tree matures.
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Not a stupid question at all- I have trouble figuring out when to pick them. Hence the above trial and error. I think some varieties of Euro pears can be picked fresh, while others need the refrigeration you mention. Part of the goal of a really early one is to be able to eat it, not have it hang around in the fridge while others catch up, so I’m hoping this can be eaten fresh. So far, it seems to be, but there could be a narrow window, as evidenced from going from almost ripe to almost overripe in about 3 days. If anyone has more info on when to pick them I’d be interested as well. But, I figured I’d need to try out the different options. I have a couple in the fridge now.
My wife and other daughter were there as well- other than the airfare, it’s cheaper than summer camp. And I got a chance to work in the yard more. 
I’ve noticed the same. I think this is earlier than usual. I remember it being the middle of the first week of August when the first ones were ripe and close to the end of August when the last was picked (and Priscilla starts, followed soon after by Sweet Sixteen). I think the brix goes steadily up over the month as well, starting around 10-12 and ending up around 14.
That would be nice, but given how early and sturdy it seems, I’d keep it even if this is as good as it gets.
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In 2015, The first WP dropped on 8/1/15 and the last one dropped on 09/08/15. They all tasted good.
I used to think my WP went biennial in 2016. After reading more about it, WP’s bud hardiness is not good at all. In the spring of 2016, we had mild Feb ( a few days of 60-65 F) luring fruit buds to push and got killed by several days of single digits in March. I think, in addition to peaches and plums that got wiped out, WP fruit buds suffered the same fate.
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Yes. I like to refrigerate euro pears, then counter-ripen them. This can help them develop a buttery sweet juicy melting texture, which is how I like to eat them.
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So this is supposed to be a Kieffer. Ripening early and not the right shape… bought at Lowes. Any guesses?
Katy
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It looks just like my Orient pear and is ripening about the same time as the ones I have.
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