Developing Osmia ribifloris as a Commercial Pollinator for Blueberries

Developing Osmia ribifloris as a Commercial Pollinator for BlueberriesAbstractBlueberries are an important crop in the US worth approximately $797 million annually.The crop is primarily pollinated by honey bees but it can take 5 to 10 colonies per acre toachieve optimal yields.There is a native solitary bee species Osmia ribifloris that specializeson blueberry-type flowers and has been shown previously to pollinate the crop well.This bee'snative range includes California and Oregon who together account for 40% of the value of theUS crop ($320 million).While it has been known that this species could be an excellentblueberry pollinator it has not yet been put into use on a commercial scale.The first step is tobegin propagating a large population in their native habitat.Foothill Bee Ranch has located sitesin California on private property where the bee thrives and over the past 4 years has built apopulation of over 10000 bees.This is enough to begin pollinating on a larger scale as it hasbeen estimated that 1000 bees per acre are needed.For this research we will deploy these bees on a significant scale in a real-world openfield trial to gather data on bee establishment rate blueberry yield and pollen species collectedby the bee.Foothill Bee Ranch will team with an organic blueberry producer in StocktonCalifornia and with solitary bee experts at USDA-ARS and UC Davis.The study will beconducted in six 1-acre plots with honey bees paired with six 1-acre plots with honey bees andO. ribifloris.We will measure nesting establishment reproductive rate flower visitation rateand blueberry yield.If successful we will be able to plan for raising more of these bees andscaling up the system to pollinate more acres every year.While blueberry yields are often goodhoney bees are not ideally suited anatomically for blueberries and have been shown to bevulnerable to biotic and abiotic stresses in the environment.Previous research has shown thatpollination can be improved when more than one pollinator species is present in a crop setting.Blueberry growers may be able to improve yields by adding this gentle native species andreducing their numbers of honey bee hives rented.We believe the time has come to beginworking with this species on a larger scale and this project will allow us to take the first stepstowards that goal.