>> cared for a base population capable of >> producing a "commercially deployable" >> number of solitary bees for multiple years > When was that, really? Mid 1990s through 2002 or so when I gave it up as a distraction from the mainline business of Farmageddon, honey bees. The initial "Batra-sourced" stock came from Bill and Nancy Troup of MD, who were using an old doghouse as their "bee hotel", and had some direct descendants of Suzanne's Japanese Hornfaced Bee stock. I tested them in orchards ranging from the NC/VA border up to the Charlottesville VA area, and all orchards were on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, from 800 feet to 2000 feet. Also tried some others, but I held out the most hope for the Hornfaced. (I was optimistic, enthusiastic, gullible...) What are your first-hand experiences with deploying solitary bees for pollination, if any? *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html