10 years ago I planted a gravenstein apple tree in the back yard. They are notorious for taking a long time to bear fruit.
After 6 years when it was 10' tall with never a blossom I moved it to a sunnier location. The next year I got one apple. Every day I checked it, to pick it as soon as it was ripe. One day it was gone, no sign of it. I blamed it on the squirrels.
The next year it had about a dozen apples. Again, as soon as they were close to being ripe all of them dissapeared. This is in the fenced back yard and we have another apple tree, so it was not likely to be kids or deer.
Then another year with nothing, two more years with just a few that got stolen. Still haven't been able to eat one!
This year I think I have outsmarted the little bushy-tailed devils. I took a two-liter soda bottle and used a zip tie to cover up the apple. I'll do the same on the others later, have to get out the ladder for them. I've saved up lots of the bottles just for this project.