Geoff:
I am not sure if this answers your question on bees under nets. But we use approximately 300 six frame nucleus hives in cages (measurement - 10'X 5'X 7') every summer to pollinate a variety of crops.  The majority of the bees spend their time trying to escape bumping off the top of the cage, but there is always about a dozen bees that work the flowers.  I always say how many bees does it take to pollinate the plants, probably only one or two.  If we have a low growing plant and there is concern about the majority of the bees not pollinating them, we place the plants into a 10' X 5'X 5' cage that forces the bees to have more contact with the plants. Again the bees cannot fly out of and back to the plants such as under a net so I am not sure if this answers your question.

Steve J. Hanlin
NCRPIS/ISU
Ames, IA  50011-1170





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