Peter Edwards said.....
"I thought I saw some pictures of tubes 2-3' long containing bees that had been imported into the US from Australia for pollination.
Or is my memory failing?"
Your memory is not failing Peter. Just Google "Bee Tubes" or "Disposable Pollination Units", and search within results for Western Australia or Rob Manning. I have used these cardboard tubes many times on pollination jobs where the tyranny of distance makes the economics of returning to pick bees up at the end of flowering impractical or uneconomic, or the access into the target crop is almost impossible. The grower is responsible for burning them at the end of the pollination period.
There are a few tricks to establishing them. If anybody wants more info, contact me off list.
Peter Detchon
Western Australia
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