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Topic: Alfalfa leafcutter bees

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	Leafcutter Bees
		Leafcutter bees are native bees, important as pollinators.
		Leafcutter bees are not aggressive and have a mild sting that is used only when they are handled.
		Leafcutter bees nest in soft, rotted wood or in the stems of large, pithy plants, such as roses.
	www.ext.colostate.edu /pubs/insect/05576.html (835 words)

	Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture - Alfalfa Leafcutter Bees for the Pollination of Wild Blueberries
		Albs were used on over three hundred acres in New Brunswick in 1995, and this service is likely to undergo significant expansion in the Atlantic region in the next few years.
		Alfalfa leafcutter bees are incubated in a variety of controlled-environment chambers.
		Albs are brought in to wild blueberry fields on day 24-25 of the incubation cycle when the majority of females have hatched.
	www.gnb.ca /0171/10/0171100027-e.asp (1996 words)

	Alternative Pollinators: Native Bees
		The alkali bee was among the first of the solitary bees to be used for pollination of alfalfa in the western U.S.) This native bee occurs naturally in areas west of the Rocky Mountains (16), and nests in moist alkaline soils near natural seeps and springs.
		Leafcutter bees are solitary bees, usually grayish in color, native to woodland areas.
		Bees are supplied during the fall, winter, and early spring as overwintering adults in their nesting tubes.
	www.attra.org /attra-pub/nativebee.html (4741 words)

	Alfalfa leafcutter bee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee (Megachile rotundata) is a European species of bee that has been cultured in the United States for pollination purposes and has also become feral and widespread.
		As a solitary but gregarious bee species, it does not build colonies or store honey, but is a very efficient pollinator of alfalfa seed, carrot seed, and some other vegetables.
		Alfalfa leafcutter bees have stingers, but they often use their mandibles as a defensive mechanism, and only defend themselves when squeezed.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Alfalfa_leafcutter_bee (349 words)

	Alfalfa Bees Prove Their Carrot Competence / Aug 20, 1997 / News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Alfalfa leafcutter bees are about a quarter-inch-long, and fl with bands of white hair on the abdomen.
		Alfalfa leafcutter bees are already raised and sold commercially to pollinate not only alfalfa but also carrots and onions in screened cages, Tepedino noted.
		Alfalfa leafcutter bees are among the species scientists call "solitary bees." These do not live in a communal nest or hive as do the familiar honeybee.
	www.ars.usda.gov /is/pr/1997/970820.htm (585 words)

	Crop Profiles - Montana
		Alfalfa seed is produced primarily in the western U.S. and Canada, where the climate is sunny and warm in the summer and there is little rainfall.
		Alfalfa leaf-cutting bees are reared in Montana primarily for the purpose of pollinating alfalfa raised for seed.
		Bee management is costly, requiring an investment in temperature-controlled winter storage, spring incubation facilities, and large-scale commercial shelters that provides shade, ventilation, and nesting materials for roughly 10,000 nesting females per acre.
	pestdata.ncsu.edu /cropprofiles/docs/mtalfalfaseed.html (9136 words)

	Wingsinflight - Attracting and providing housing for Orchard Mason and other Solitary Bees.
		Bees are some of our best pollinators, and 30% of our food supply is dependent on bees for pollination, as well as the fruits and flowers in our home gardens.
		Right now the Honey bee is in decline due to mite infestation, however, this bee is not our only pollinator - other bees, known as "Solitary" bees are just as hard working but because of their small size they go unnoticed and due to lack of knowledge about these fascinating insects, are greatly under appreciated.
		Like the Mason bee she will nest in pre-made bee houses with holes from 4"-8" deep and will make 12-15 cells, each cell lined with approximately 15 pieces of leaf with a loaf of "bee bread," a mixture of pollen and nectar placed in each cell, on which an egg is laid.
	www.wingsinflight.com /gardbees.html (2051 words)

	Untitled
		The term "wild bee" is used commonly for all bees except honey bees in the genus Apis (hence, apiculture or culturing of honey bees).
		In the 1950's, alfalfa seed growers noticed large populations of leafcutter bees pollinating their fields and began to increase the bees by providing nest holes in various kinds of wooden objects.
		The leafcutter bee is attacked by numerous insects, and considerable attention must be given to maintenance of a pest-free population if an increase in bee populations is to be realized.
	maarec.cas.psu.edu /bkCD/management/wild_bees.html (6729 words)

	leafcutting bees - Megachilidae
		Leafcutting bees are mostly moderate-sized (around the size of a honey bee, ranging from 5 mm to 24 mm), stout-bodied, fl bees.
		Leafcutter bees also pollinate fruits and vegetables and are used as pollinators by commercial growers of blueberries, onions, carrots and alfalfa.
		The Coelioxys, a genus within the leafcutting bee family, are cleptoparasites (they lay their eggs in the nests of other leafcutter bees and the young "steal" all of the stored pollen).
	creatures.ifas.ufl.edu /misc/bees/leafcutting_bees.htm (749 words)

	ALFALFA SEED PRODUCTION
		The alfalfa leafcutter bee overwinters as a pupa surrounded by dried alfalfa leaves; that is in-a cocoon.
		The leafcutter bees should not be placed in the field before the alfalfa flowers.
		bees tend to forage near their nesting site, field shelters should be placed about 70m apart (1 shelter per acre or 2.5 shelters per hectare).
	www.plant.uoguelph.ca /performance_recommendations/ofcc/pub/alfalfa.htm (1803 words)

	Alfalfa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Alfalfa is native to Iran, where it was probably domesticated during the Bronze Age to feed horses being brought from Central Asia.
		Alfalfa sprouts are used as a salad ingredient in the United States and Australia.
		Alfalfa pollination is somewhat problematic because the keel of the flower trips to help pollen transfer to the foraging bee, striking them in the head.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Alfalfa (1383 words)

	RESEARCH PROGRESS REPORT (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		The results of the study were inconclusive except for the observation that the leafcutter bees did not visit the soybean flowers in the open fields.
		However, the unit of measure for evaluating the bee populations must be the ratio of flowers/bee and not bees/ square yard as used in studies of other legume seed crops.
		Erickson that honey bees increase the yield of common soybean cultivars, we felt it important to test the effect of honey bee visitation on the yield of 'Williams', the most widely planted soybean cultivar in Illinois.
	www.ag.uiuc.edu /~stratsoy/ispob_db/lor_html/165.html (1224 words)

	Growing and Harvesting Practices of Alfalfa Seed in Walla Walla County
		The alfalfa plant has a deep tap root system that enables the plant to survive extreme heat and drought conditions by allowing it to extract water and nutrients from deep within the soil.
		The dry alfalfa is cut using a combine, leaving a dry residue of cut alfalfa plants that is very expensive and not cost-efficient to gather and bail.
		In the spring, when the alfalfa plant is just beginning to grow and requiring more water, the crop is irrigated with water that is diverted from the rivers in the region.
	www.whitman.edu /environmental_studies/WWRB/agriculture/alfalfa.html (1819 words)

	Beneficial Insects - Pollinators
		The most effective pollinators of alfalfa in Oklahoma are bumble bees and leafcutter bees.
		While both of these bees occur naturally, their population levels are typically not high enough to provide all of the pollinators needed for a highly productive seed crop.
		Although leafcutter bees are reared as pollinators in some areas of the western U.S., they are not used extensively in Oklahoma.
	alfalfa.okstate.edu /webnews/beneficial-pollinators.htm (345 words)

	Alfalfa Seed Production in the Western U.S.
		The control of weeds in alfalfa seed production is essential not only to prevent competition and encourage the growth of the alfalfa, but producers of certified seed must meet stringent requirements for purity of the seed, and are very careful to control noxious weeds.
		Leafcutter bees are more efficient pollinators of alfalfa compared to honey bees since every female in the population gathers pollen and nectar, unlike honey bees where only a small percentage of the population gathers pollen.
		Leafcutter bees compliment honey bees in pollination by working under different environmental conditions, setting green spots in the field where honey bees prefer not to work, or working different parts of the plant.
	alfalfa.ucdavis.edu /subpages/CASeed.htm (2044 words)

	THE POTENTIAL OF ALFALFA LEAFCUTTER BEES (MEGACHILE ROTUNDATA L.) AS POLLINATORS OF CRANBERRY (VACCINIUM MACROCARPON ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Investigations on the pollination of cranberry by alfalfa leafcutter bees (ALBs) were carried out in 1994 and 1995 on a 4 ha bog in Nova Scotia.
		However, when bees with established nests were moved onto the bog in 1995, they remained with the nests and foraged near them.
		Given that ALBs do not use cranberry pollen, require alternate leaf material, and abscond from their nests, there is little potential for their use as managed pollinators of cranberry.
	www.actahort.org /books/437/437_43.htm (205 words)

	Alfalfa Seed - Economics and Agronomics of New Crops
		The bee mortality level also rises as the number of bees per unit area in the incubator is decreased; as well, developing bee pupae in the top layer of cells in the incubation tray are more susceptible to dichlorvos poisoning due to increased exposure.
		Alfalfa seed producers currently use the chemical dichlorvos (2, 2 - dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate), in the resin strip formulation commonly known as Vapona®, for control of chalcid parasites during spring incubation of alfalfa leafcutting bees.
		During bee incubation and harvesting operations, large numbers of bees or bee cells in confined areas may lead to high levels of airborne spores from these medically important moulds, which have been implicated in allergic reactions and bronchopulmonary disease.
	www.agr.gov.sk.ca /docs/production/alfalfaseed_economics.asp (9682 words)

	AgKnowledge: Number 71: Researchers Seek Balance Between Alfalfa Seed Yields and Healthy Bees
		While most studies of alfalfa seed production and bee mortality address individual factors, UI pollinator ecologist Karen Strickler is beginning to model the dynamic and complex system of interacting factors within alfalfa seed fields.
		To manage alfalfa seed for bee survival, growers would put out fewer bees and keep their flowers blooming later into the season, says Strickler.
		Those generous numbers of bees, on the other hand, produce high seed yields but pollinate flowers so rapidly that the alfalfa plants divert their energy toward maturing seed pods—starving out the bees.
	info.ag.uidaho.edu /agknowledge/agknowledge71.htm (505 words)

	MAVI Approved Project - Extension Report - Export Protocol and Market Development of Alfalfa Leafcutter Bees - Manitoba ...
		The purpose of this project was to expand market opportunities for Canadian alfalfa leafcutter bee producers.
		Immediate sales of leafcutter bees in the Fall rather than the Spring, due to consecutive growing seasons.
		The leafcutter bee industry is a capital and labour intensive business that allows growers to diversity away from an export grain economy.
	www.gov.mb.ca /agriculture/financial/agribus/cch14s30.html (214 words)

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