Bee Plus
Osmia cornifrons
Osmia cornifrons is one of many species of solitary bees, also called pollen bees.  Solitary bees make up the vast majority of bees found in North America and the world.  These wild bees do the vast majority of insect-derived pollination although often unnoticed by the casual observer.  Most of these bees nest in the ground or in small holes bored in wood by other insects.  The species we have, O. cornifrons, is easily managed by providing cardboard nesting tubes and protecting the nests from predators and weather.

The ideal pollinator
One O. cornifrons bee can pollinate as much as 50-80 honey bees.  It takes only about 300 female O. cornifrons to pollinate an acre of apples while it takes an entire hive of about 10,000-30,000 honey bees to do the same job.  Honey bees primarily collect nectar to make honey.  Pollination is incidental to this process.  O. cornifrons mainly collects pollen with a little nectar.  Honey bees land on the petals and reach into the center of the flower to collect the nectar.  Any pollen collected is wetted and stuck to her hind legs, and is generally unavailable for pollination.  O. cornifrons lands directly on the pollen-bearing anthers to collect dry pollen on her belly, making it available for pollination at the next flower.

O. cornifrons will fly only about 100 yards from the nest, so they will stay and pollinate your crop.  Fruit tree blossoms are their preferred source of pollen, but will visit other flowers when fruit blossoms are not available.  Honey bees will often fly 1-2 miles to the most attractive flower, often weeds or forest trees in bloom.  O. cornifrons and honey bees can be used simultaneously in an orchard with little or no interference or reduction in the production of honey or growth of the colony because of their different modes of operation.  Using both improves the pollination even more.

Safety
O. cornifrons are solitary bees, each female collecting provisions for her own nest.  With no hive to protect, they will simply fly away if disturbed.  They will sting only if caught and pinched.  The sting is mild, similar to a sweat bee.  We have kept these bees for five years and have never been stung by them.  O. cornifrons cannot interbreed with Africanized bees so there is no danger of importing aggressive honeybees.

Management
The bees are managed with small cardboard tubes.  The bees provision the nests and lay eggs directly in the tubes during their active season of about 60 days in early spring when most fruit trees are in bloom.  As the tubes are filled, the bees plug the end with mud.  At the end of the season, the adult bees die.  At the end of the active season, around the first of June here, the tubes are collected and placed in storage until next spring.  The eggs hatch and the young mature over the summer months, but the mature bees overwinter in the tubes, awaiting warm weather in the spring.  After the coldest winter weather has passed and as the first spring blooms appear, the tubes are placed in the orchard for the pollinating season.  After sufficient warming, the bees emerge to start a new cycle.  Some kind of shelter must be used to protect the tubes and bees from inclement weather.

Application
These bees should be used to pollinate most any fruit crop that flowers during their active season.  This season normally runs from the earliest cherry blossoms to the end of the blueberry bloom.  This season includes virtually all tree fruit as well as strawberries and blueberries.

O. cornifrons are ideal pollinators for both backyard orchards as well as the largest commercial orchards.  They won't bother the neighbors or interfere with orchard workers while providing excellent pollination.  They will stay local as long as there is adequate bloom for pollen gathering.  They will gather pollen from almost any blooming plant, but prefer fruit blossoms.  Note: to ensure good pollination regardless of the type bees used, do not use insecticides on open blossoms at any time.  Spraying insecticides during the bloom period will kill the bees.

Getting Started
Twenty tubes is the minimum number recommended to maintain a colony.  Twenty tubes will be enough to pollinate up to about ten full-sized fruit trees or about 0.1 acres.  For larger orchards, it takes about 150 tubes to pollinate 1 acre.  In all cases, there needs to be at least as many new tubes as original filled tubs, although somewhat more are recommended.

Recommendations
Backyard orchard up to 10 trees.               20 filled tubes and 40 new tubes, scale as needed
Commercial orchard                                 150 filled tubes and 150 new tubes per acre

Filled bee tubes, new bee tubes, and shelters available.
Orders should be placed by March 20.

Call 304-291-0015 or e-mail Bob McConnell