Part of what Doug Yanega so nicely wrote was:
 
 On the whole though, funding for research into
>alternative pollinators has been quite scarce - perhaps now there will be
>more pressure to investigate how to exploit or manage native pollinators
>for commercial purposes....
 
In this instance I am not sure that it is a problem of lack of research so
much as a lack of common sense and a misplacement of priorities on the part
of our society.  For example, low-bush blueberries, which are marketed as a
"wild" crop, simply because the clones are not planted, are sprayed quite
heavily with pesticides.  I have seen growers spray right in the middle of a
sunny day with open bloom (I had to move my hives out) and then come crying
to me because there was hardly an insect of any species still moving in that
field.  In that case supposedly the crop was threatened by spotted geometer
grubs, but they could have waited until after pollinators had ceased flying.
In most cases the spraying is to control blueberry maggot.  This is not a
crop threatening pest, but the growers are forced to spray because the
processors will not buy the crop if the maggots exceed a tiny number.
Ultimately this is the consumers fault.  We have to demand NON PERFECT fruit
and vegetables.  We have to say that we would rather have the odd worm or
blemish than the destruction of our own health and that of the environment.
The pollinators will probably manage fairly well without our "management" if
we would just stop poisoning them.
 
Regards,   Stan