Sid,
 
Bumblebees are available in the U.S. for pollination.  A company called Bees West in Watsonville, CA is providing this service.  They have a license to use a European system, from Holland, I believe.  They are quite a bit more expensive than honeybees and their use has been mostly in greenhouse-grown vegetables and other high-value crops.  Some research is being done on yield increases on strawberries when bumblebees are used for pollination.  If the AHB ever completely disrupts pollination services (unlikely) then they may find some customers like almond growers.  The bumblebee is a more efficient pollinator than Apis mellifera.  They start earlier, work later and visit more flowers per bee.  They also "sonicate" or buzz the flowers which releases more pollen. 
 
They loaned me an observation hive a couple of years ago for a display I was doing at the county fair.  The process is all very secret.  The bees did not fly out of the hive and I fed them pollen and sugar syrup.  It was fascinating to watch them.
 
Bob Roach
 
 
      Sid Wrote:
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From:   Sid Pullinger[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Sunday, October 19, 1997 10:44 PM
Subject:        Bumblebees
 
As  a result of my letter on giant bumblebees and the follow-up I have
received several requests for more information on rearing bumbles.  Beyond
setting out artificial nesting sites around my garden I have very little
knowledge of them and none when it comes to breeding them.  I consulted a
commercial friend who supplies honey bees to greenhouse growers of early
tomatoes and strawberries and he told me it is quite an industry in Belgium
and Holland and very much a trade secret.  Apparently the skill lies in
coaxing the queens to come out of hibernation early and start a colony well
in advance of normal.  He reckons that growers in Britain import some
10,000 "nests" annually for early crops.  I have seen one of these "nests"
at a convention some time ago.  As I recall  the bees come in a cardboard
box approximately 12 by 12  by 6 inches deep.  There are two compartments,
one for the bees and one for food, sugar syrup and pollen.