I was most pleased to see Chris Plowright's posting about Bombiculture
when I looked into BEE-L this morning, his snarky remarks notwithstanding.
I congratulate him openly for having made the important break-through
which I have considered a prerequisite to the full entrenchment of
the use of bumblebees into agricultural and horticultural pollination.
Bumblebees have joined the ranks of such valuable crop pollinators as
hive honeybees, alfalfa leafcutting bees, orchard bees as being reliably
and consistently available for practical manipulation and management.
 
I apologize for conveying what is now clearly mis-information. However,
even a short year to year and a half ago, it seems the break-through
wasn't known, even if accomplished. As far as I am aware, the methodology
is not described in the scientific literature.
 
Thank you, Chris, for bringing me up to date on the latest in Bombiculture!
 
Cheers, Peter