how can I tell whether conference pears are ripe? Roughly when should they be ripe?
When you bite into them and they are firm, sweet and juicy!
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
If you leave them on the tree until you think they are ripe, you will find that the wasps have beaten you to it by several days. Safer to pick them when they are still fairly hard and ripen them indoors (usually about a week or so) when you can easily tell by a slight scrape of the skin with your finger nail.