Relatives of the alfalfa leafcutting bee, belonging to the genus Osmia, also are promising candidates for management because they display the same useful characteristics and some species forage on a variety of crops, including blueberries, almonds, pears, and apples. The native bee, Osmia ribifloris is an effective pollinator of rabbiteye blueberry. The interior of a completed O. ribifloris nest showing a linear arrangement of coccoons with two open cocoons revealing the developing larvae inside. Preliminary studies from California and Maine suggest that O. ribifloris has considerable potential as a blueberry pollinator. This bee is found from Texas west to California.
Adults emerge in early spring, and in the wild, they nest in a wide array of pre-existing cavities.
O. ribifloris is being studied as a new pollinator for managed blueberries because it forms large nest aggregations in artificial wood domiciles and its diet in its native range includes close relatives of the rabbiteye blueberry. However, artificially dense nesting populations of any bee are more susceptible to disease and parasitism. Procedures to screen for pathogens and parasitic mites specific to O. ribifloris are being developed by the USDA to help ensure the commercial success of the bee by preventing the introduction of this bee's natural enemies. The goal of this study was to assess the potential of O. ribifloris for improving fruit set on rabbiteye blueberry, in light of the advances being made in the management of this bee. Overwintering adults, still in their cocoons, were shipped in the fall from Austin, Texas, to Auburn.