e-Megachile rotundata. This is a European bee that has been introduced to other regions . As a solitary bee species, it does not build colonies or store honey, but is a very efficient pollinator of alfalfa, carrots and some other vegetables.
The importation of the species to North America was to assist in the pollination of food crops, and it has now widespread. The species is also found in Queensland, Australia, but not recorded in other states. The vernacular in Australia is Lucerne leafcutter bee.
Female alfalfa leafcutter bees have stingers, but both sexes will use their mandibles as a defensive mechanism, usually only defending themselves when squeezed or antagonized. Therefore bee suits, such as those required with honey bees, are not really necessary when dealing with these bees. The ratio of males to females is generally one to one.
Alfalfa Leaf Cutting Bee. Image Courtesy of USDA.
This species of leafcutter bee is cultivated to pollinate alfalfa grown for seed, a function that it does far more efficiently than honeybees. These leafcutter bees are provided with predrilled "bee boards" that they use for nest construction. At the end of the season, the nest cells with developing bees are collected and carefully stored, to be released the subsequent season when alfalfa blooms.
Figure 53. Alfalfa Leaf Cutting Bee Pollinating Alfalfa.
Commercially produced bee blocks, consisting of a wood block drilled with a series of dead-end holes, are now widely available. These types of bee nests were initially developed in the 1960s by alfalfa seed producers in the western United States to attract and manage large numbers of the non-native alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata). Their sole purpose is to attract wild populations of these bees.
Bee Block for Attracting Large Population of Alfalfa Leaf Cutting Bees.
More recently they have been modified to manage the blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria), a bee that is active only in the spring and will not pollinate later-flowering fruits and vegetables. Consequently, al