At 07:52 PM 10/04/97 -0400, you wrote:
> would the flower fidelity of the honeybee just send them elsewhere
>looking for clover?
>
You may be right
 
BUT ....
 
I saw a Chinese (may have been Korean or Japanese) film once about this sort
of topic.
 
The bees were not interested in the flower that the grower wanted to
pollinate.  The beekeeper solved the problem soaking several petals in a
warm solution of strong sugar syrup.  When the syrup was cool, it was fed to
bees in the hive.  The bees got a taste of the crop and pollinated it.
 
I have not tried this myself and have never heard of any one who has.  It
may work better with some flowers than other.  Suck it and see.
Regards
 
Chris Allen