Researchers are turning to wild native bees to help spread and pollinate blueberry crops. 

Honeybees are in decline and can't always pollinate certain crops efficiently, a big issue for horticulturists since honeybees are considered the universal crop pollinator worldwide.

To close the pollinator void, horticulturists and entomologists are turning to the chimney bee, also known as the miner bee, to pollinate crops.

Honeybees are not very keen on blueberry crops due to their relatively short tongue and preferences for other plants, making the native bee an important find for blueberry growers. 

On the other hand, the wild bee known as the Southeastern blueberry bee, is an abundant and efficient pollinator of blueberry crops throughout the U.S. Golf Coast states. 

The pollinators are relatively easy to relocate and docile, making it easy for beekeepers and farmers to move colonies from their regions to blooming crops across the country. Native bees are also docile when being handled and take care of themselves with little need for human involvement. 

Locating wild native bees is relatively easy since they're usually found after construction projects or natural weather events disturb the land and give bees easy access to fresh-turned clay.

After finding the nests, Blair Sampson, an entomologist at the Agricultural Research Service’s Southern Horticultural Research Laboratory, gathers earthen cocoons and moves them to where they are tested or released as fruit pollinators.

According to Sampson, the chimney bees' principal role would be as fruit pollinators since they don't produce enough honey for commercial use.

"The chimney bee does show certain qualities that highlight their ideal candidacy for commercial management: they are flower generalists with a strong homing instinct, and hence will nest in the same location for many years," she explains. "They also nest in dense aggregations and remain gentle around people near their nest sites.”

Chimney bees must be shipped in a dormant state, then gently warmed to complete their development and emerge from their cocoons. Water and additional nesting material should be available to help them thrive.