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Chapter 2: Bumble Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Commercial Use and Environmental Concerns
Editor(s): Karen Strickler; James H. Cane
Chapter Author(s): Robbin W. Thorp
Print Publication Date: 2003
Abstract

Bumble bees are important pollinators of many flowering plants in wildland areas throughout their distribution. They have long been recognized as principal pollinators of forage legumes, especially red clover. They were one of the first of the non-Apis bees imported and established for crop pollination when queens of four species were exported from Britain to New Zealand more than 100 years ago. Recent breakthroughs in interrupting queen hibernation and inducing queens to establish colonies at any time of year have facilitated a rapid growth industry that produces bumble bee queens and colonies and markets them throughout much of the world, including many areas where the genus or the species of choice do not naturally occur. This has given rise to environmental concerns and the need to weigh risks of introduction and establishment in nonnative areas versus the economic benefits of exploiting them for commercial pollination.

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