Resources

[MichaelW]

Post links to resources here (commercial or public). Lets keep the discussion to other treads (keep the chatter down here) and leave this as an intro and source book.

[MichaelW]

How to Manage the Blue Orchard Bee as an Orchard Pollinator
Bosch, J., Kemp, W.

Online book

http://www.sare.org/publications/bob.htm

[MichaelW]

Befriending Bumblebees, A Practical Guide to Rasing Local Bumble Bees
Evans, E., Burns, I., Spivak, M.

http://befriendingbumblebees.com/

[MichaelW]

Alternative Pollinators: Native Bees
By Lane Greer
NCAT Agriculture Specialist
Published 1999
ATTRA Publication #IP126

http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/nativebee.html

[MichaelW]

USDA Pollinating Insect- Biology, Management, Systematics Research at Logan, Utah

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/site_main.htm?modecode=54-28-05-00

not the easiest website to navigate, but good info. Check out this intro to squash bees
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=12041

quick stick nests
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=14404

Plants Attractive to Native Bees
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=12052

[Walliebee]

Suppliers of Bees and Bee Equipment

Barry Wolf Farms
Box 6
Carrot River
Saskatchewan, CANADA; S0E 0L0
306-768-3518
A source of leafcutter bees.

Bee Busters
George Bristol
P.O. Box 600
Pescadero, CA 94060
415-879-0233
Raises and sells Osmia lignaria.

Bees West, Inc.
P.O. Box 1378
Freedom, CA 95019
408-728-3325
Provide bumblebees (Bombus occidentalis, B. impatiens) and other commercial pollination services.

Benecia Garden & Nursery
Carol de Maintenon, Owner
126 East E Street
Benicia, CA 94510
benicia@beniciagarden.com
Supplier of Osmia, condos, and straws.

Custom Paper Tubes, Inc.
P.O. Box 44187
Cleveland, OH 44144-0187
800-766-2527
Provides fabricated-to-order paper tubers as solitary bee nesting materials.

Entomo-Logic
Evan Sugden & Kristina Williams
9807 NE 140th St.
Bothell, WA 98011-5132
425-820-8037
easugden@msn.com
Services: pollination, consultation on rearing and pollination, presentations on bees, beekeeping, and pollination. Products: Osmia lignaria, bee blocks, paper nest inserts, pollination kits for beginners.

Tom Farmer
16021 Marsing Rd.
Caldwell, ID 83605
208-459-8251
Raises and sells Osmia lignaria.

Brad Gill
P.O. Box 761
Rainier, WA 98576
360-894-3672 or
206-894-3672
Raises and sells Osmia lignaria, nest blocks.

The Green Spot Ltd.
93 Priest Rd.
Nottingham, NH 03290-6204
603-942-8925/8932
GrnSpt@internetMCI.com
Source of bumblebees.

Hydro-Gardens, Inc.
P.O. Box 25845
Colorado Springs, CO 80936
800-634-6362
Source of bumblebees.

International Pollination Systems USA
16645 Plum Rd.
Caldwell, ID 83605
208-990-1390
Provides consultant services, supplies, and breeding stock of various bees (Megachile rotundata, Osmia lignaria, Bombus occidentalis, B. impatiens) for commercial orchards and field crop growers.

International Pollination Systems Canada
Box 241
Fisher Branch, Manitoba
CANADA; ROC OZO
204-372-6920
IPS' primary objective is to provide pollinating bees and assistance to growers who want to initiate their own pollination program or improve an existing one. They are providers of alkali bees (Nomia melanderi), blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria), bumblebees (Bombus spp.), honeybees (Apis mellifera) and leafcutter bees (Megachile rotundata).

Jonesville Paper Tube Corporation
540 Beck St.
P.O. Box 39
Jonesville, MI 49250
517-849-9963
info@papertube.com
Manufacturer of paper tubes for bees.

Knox Cellars
25724 NE 10th St.
Redmond, WA 98053
425-898-8802
425-898-8070 FAX
Brian@knoxcellars.com
Sells blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) along with nesting materials and education products about them. Provides starter kits called pollinators with three filled nests containing six to seven overwintering bees each. Also sells cardboard nesting tubes or assorted drilled pine boards as bee real estate ready to be hung on a wall and occupied by nesting females. Also sells bumblebee houses and education material about them.

Koppert Biological Systems, Inc.
28465 Beverly Rd.
Romulus, MI 48174
734-641-3763
734-641-3793 FAX
Source of bumblebees.

Dale C. Nielson
530 East 600 South
Logan, UT 84321
435-753-2004
wildbee@uswest.net
Nesting tubes for Osmia lignaria & O. cornifrons

Orchard Bees
Greg Dickman
4391 County Rd. 35
Auburn, IN 46706-9794
219-925-5076 (home)
219-925-4414 (work)
Sell the blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria), along with paper straws, cardboard nesting tubes, and a video on their life history and propagation. Bees are supplied during the fall, winter, and early spring as overwintering adults in their nesting tubes.

Pawood Bee Blocks
Box 415
Ambrose, ND 58833
701-982-3237
Provides nesting blocks for hornfaced and orchard bees.

Plant Sciences, Inc.
342 Green Valley Rd.
Watsonville, CA 95076
831-728-7771
Source of bumblebees.

Raintree Nursery
391 Butts Rd.
Morton, WA 98356
360-496-6400
Bee blocks and bees.

Territorial Seed Company
20 Palmer Ave.
P.O. Box 157
Cottage Grove, OR 97424-0064
541-942-9547
888-657-3131 FAX
Bee blocks and bees.

Ustick Bee Board Co.
11133 Ustick Rd.
Boise, ID 83704
208-322-7778
Supplies wooden drilled bee nesting boards in addition to modern styrofoam nesting materials for the management of alfalfa leafcutter bees (Megachile rotundata).

Raymond D. Williams
P.O. Box 1943
Binghamton, NY 13902-1943
607-775-3369
Supplies Osmia spp.

[MichaelW]

Excellent online booklet of how to encourage native bees for pollination on farms

http://www.xerces.org/pubs_merch/Farming_for_Bees.htm

They have lots more info as well
http://www.xerces.org/Pollinator_Insect_Conservation/index.htm

[MichaelW]

provides a starting point for the species that are present in Florida.

http://chiron.valdosta.edu/jbpascar/Intro.htm

[MichaelW]

bee species ID

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Apoidea

originally posted by riverrat

[Omie]

I just ordered some mason bees and nesting tubes (and a bt house too) from this outfit in upstate NY:
http://www.seedcake.com/
They don't raise the bees themselves, they are a dealer- but they were very helpful on the phone and I liked their stuff. Got free shipping on an order over $100 (including my bat house).