The development of best use practices of commercialized colonies of Bombus impatiens on strawberry, watermelon, and pickling cucumber crops in Delaware

Recent declines of honey bee populations have sparked researchers’ interest in alternative, specifically native pollinators and their potential to fulfill pollination services within economically important crops.  Bumble bees are one such alternative pollinator and within the last 20 years these pollinators have been reared and sold as commercial pollinators.  The investigation of this new pollination strategy has been limited and more research is needed to improve pollinator effectiveness in field settings.

Researchers at the University of Delaware are investigating the use of the commercially reared native bumble bee species, the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens), on crop pollination throughout farms in southern Delaware.  Placement treatments of colonies will differ throughout each field to optimize colony fecundity and fruit set/crop yield on strawberries, watermelon, and pickling cucumbers. Other measureable variables in the study include type of pollen gathered, colony thermoregulation, and foraging rates.  At the end of two years, this research will create guidelines on how to best keep Bombus impatiens as an economic pollinator throughout a growing season.