Bumble bee studied as greenhouse help

LOGAN, Utah, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist says he's trying to learn what's causing a decline in bumble bee populations and searching for a species to serve as greenhouse pollinators.

U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist James Strange says bumble bees, like honey bees, are important pollinators of native plants and are also used to pollinate greenhouse crops like peppers and tomatoes -- but a species used for greenhouse pollination, Bombus occidentalis, began to suffer from disease problems in the late 1990s and commercial companies stopped rearing them.

Many greenhouse growers in western states have switched to another species, Bombus impatiens, native to the Midwest and eastern United States and Canada, a USDA release said Thursday.

Scientists are concerned about using a bee outside its native range, and some western states restrict the importation and use of non-native bees, concerned they could compete with native bees for food and resources.

Strange has been studying a pretty, orange-striped bumble bee, Bombus huntii, which is native to the western half of the country.

The bee could used in greenhouses in the western United States if commercial breeding proves viable, he said.