Journal
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
Volume 104, Issue 3, Pages 750-752Publisher
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC AMER
DOI: 10.1603/EC10406
Keywords
Osmia lignaria; solitary bees; bee retention; bee dispersal
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Funding
- ARS USDA Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory
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Osmia lignaria Say (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) can be used to pollinate fruit trees. Populations are sometimes difficult to sustain because some female bees fail to establish at provided nesting sites. We address the hypothesis that rough handling of overwintered O. lignaria results in decreased establishment. Wetested this by shaking (200 rpm for 2 min) overwintering bees as a proxy for rough handling. Bees were then released in an orchard, and nest establishment of shaken and unshaken bees was recorded. There was no significant difference in the proportion of shaken and unshaken females that nested, indicating that rough handling of overwintering bees does not discourage nest establishment.
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