Doug,
 
    We have a sizable cranberry industry in the Fraser Valley (British Columbia)
    where quite a bit of research and resources have been committed over the
    years to examine the issue of pollination.  As many know, Mark Winston of
    SFU (with Keith Slessor) identified and developed the QMP product to enhance
    honeybee pollination in cranberry.
 
    Kenna MacKenzie's work on the east coast is valuable, and there is no doubt
    that bumblebees are much better pollinators of bog plants, including
    cranberry and blueberry.  You are quite correct that the bumbles have
    evolved over millions of years in bog environments and are the most
    effective pollinators.  But only so as individual pollinator.
 
    In monocultural settings as cranberry (and blueberry) is grown today, it is
    the shortage in numbers of pollinating insects that is the limiting
    factor.  Bumblebee nests may be comprised of a few dozen individuals while a
    cranberry field has millions of flowers.  Considering the current prices for
    commercially available bumble bee nests,  I question the economics of their
    use in a field setting.  (Greenhouses is a different matter).  Perhaps,
    simple enhancement of nesting habitat would be more cost-effective.
 
 
    Paul van Westendorp                         [log in to unmask]
    Provincial Apiarist
    British Columbia