Bee research could lead to better pollination, larger crops for farmers
Chet Kendell owner of Kendell Orchards in North Ogden began, using Blue Orchard Bees as a substitute for honeybees in 1998, after seeing an article about them, he said.
Since that time, on average, he has had at least a 3.2 fold increase with his Sweet Cherries over the years, he said.
“That’s almost too good,” Kendell said. “Nobody believes it.”
Kendell has been working with the USDA-ARS-NPA Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory in Logan.
“I can see 10 years from now a tremendous amount of demand pressure for these insects commercially. Cherry growers not using them won’t be able to compete cost-wise,” Kendell said.
This lab works in conjunction with the biology department at Utah State University and focuses the research on more than 4,000 different species of bees other than honeybees that can be used as crop pollinators, said Jordi Bosch, a research entomologist with the Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory.
There are four other USDA labs which work with honeybees in the United States, but this is the only one in the country to do their type of research on other bees, Bosch said.
“It’s a unique lab in the United States, and in the world,” Bosch said.
The characteristics of the Blue Orchard Bee make it an ideal pollinator for fruit growers, particularly in Utah, Bosch said. Some of these characteristics Bosch mentioned are as follows:
This bee is solitary, meaning it doesn’t work in groups, which makes it less aggressive and it doesn’t sting. This is one of the reasons Kendell chose to use the bee, because he said he had received complaints from his neighbors about honeybees in the United States, but this is the only one in the country to do their type of research on other bees, Bosch said.
Logan Canyon. It can work alongside honeybees without interference.
• t works in lower temperatures and in worse weather, which creates a higher yield for bad years.
• It has a short amount of time during its life cycle that it flies during April and May, which coincides precisely with the crop bloom period.
• It works in a way that every flower it lands on is well-pollinated because it lands directly on the reproductive areas of the flower.
• For an acre of crop, two to four honeybee hives are needed with thousands of workers in each. Only 300 Blue Orchard Bee females are needed to do the same amount of work.
• It is a mason bee, which means it builds its nest above ground and can easily be transported. Farmers can store these bees in wood blocks with holes bored into them for the winter in their barns or sheds.
“I’m a tremendous proponent of the Blue Orchard Bee,” Kendell said. “I have absolutely no reason to go back to using honeybees.”
The Blue Orchard Bee is reaching the phase of being delivered commercially, Bosch said. They published a “How To” manual for fruit growers, using the bees.
“This is the first publication of this kind to help people know this bee better,” Bosch said.
The Blue Orchard Bee is just one of several species being researched at the lab. Others include the Leaf Cutter Bees, that are a commercial pollinator for alfalfa in Oregon and Idaho; another mason bee from the Osmia species that can be used for blueberries in New Jersey and cranberries in the Eastern states; the Alkali Bee also for alfalfa; and another type of leaf-cutter for sunflowers, Bosch said.
“Every time a pollination problem is not readily solved with honeybees, we have to solve the problem,” Bosch said.
Research and testing of the life cycle, benefits and problems with the different species of bees takes years before they can be commercially used, Bosch said. They begin with a large group of candidate bees and then narrow their search to one or two.
“We have a very good bee collection, one of the best in the country and world,” Bosch said.
Bosch said he would like to see the other types of bees they are working with get to the same point as the Blue Orchard Bee and to be used commercially.
“We completely believe people will be satisfied with the results,” Bosch said.
For more information, see the lab Web site at www.loganbeelab.usu.edu.