SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The old days of depending only on natural pollination is no more; now there are other options through imported pollinators, John P. Wolf of Koppert Biological Systems recently explained.

Wolf, a pollination specialist for North America, was set up at this year’s Illinois Specialty Crops, Agritourism and Organic Conference Jan. 7-9 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. Through its QUAD Bumblebees, Koppert Biological will ship bumblebees it advertises will “guarantee a flying start to good pollination.”

The bees are what Koppert refers to as “nature’s perfect pollinator.” After an order is placed the bees will arrive within 14-16 weeks. The bees are certified to be pest- and disease-free by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and are shipped from the U.S. office located in Romulus, Mich.

The company offers bee units with each QUAD containing four large bumblebee colonies enclosed in a weather-resistant outer unit. QUAD units are shipped to the grower, easing the reliance on local pollinators to ensure a successful fruit-set. With only a short period of time for fertilization to take place, the pollinator bees are less sensitive to low temperatures, light intensities and unfavorable weather conditions than honeybees.

While they are often thought of as interchangeable, there are differences between honeybees and bumblebees, one of which is food requirements. Koppert literature states bumblebees are more focused on pollen, whereas honeybees are nectar-focused as well. Nectar foragers in the colony do pollinate but to a much lesser extent, since it is just a side effect of their main function of nectar collecting.

Another distinctive difference, according to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, is that bumblebees only make small amounts of a honey-like substance to eat for themselves. Honeybees make lots of honey, which beekeepers can harvest to eat or sell.

Besides those pollinators offered by companies like Koppert, most bumblebees live in the wild while honeybees are often cultivated in colonies by beekeepers. The Conservation Trust states wild populations of both bees are declining. Bumblebee populations are declining because of a shortage of flowers to feed from and places to nest in the countryside, while Honeybees are mainly declining due to diseases and mites, such as the varroa mite.

The QUAD system uses bumblebees because they are active at temperatures as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit, while honeybees require temperatures near 60. The bumblebees are more active than honeybees on cloudy, foggy and rainy days and during wind. The bumblebees will fly in winds up to 40 mph.

Other benefits of bumblebees Koppert literature claims are they will pollinate with only one visit. They are also attracted to flowers with narrow corolla tubes, like those found in fruits such as blueberries and cranberries, and bumblebees “promote higher rates of cross-pollination as the forage between plants more randomly than honeybees.”

For a grower that uses employees, another plus is that bumblebees are not as aggressive as honeybees.

Bees are only one of the insects offered by Koppert, a company that began in the 1960s with Jan Koppert, a greenhouse grower who raised cucumbers and had issues with spider mites. After becoming ill when using chemical products, he decided to find an alternative and looked for a natural enemy of the mite.

“After finding a predatory mite, he started selling insects,” Wolf explained.

Koppert Biologicals began in the Netherlands and spread to Canada, then moved into the United States in late 1998. Its goal is to work with nature to make agriculture healthier, safer and more productive.

Working for Koppert was a natural choice for Wolf, who said he has been involved with bees for years. “I have been a beekeeper since I was 11 years old,” he noted.

Growing up in North Dakota with yellow clover fields, he said that state is the top in bee hive production, with South Dakota following and California, third.

Bees are a requirement for fruit pollination, Wolf said, adding, “Our biggest areas are watermelon, cranberries, blueberries and then apple growers, as well as squash, pumpkins and cucumbers.”

The biggest reason to use a service like Koppert rather than rely on nature only is that a service can take the worry out of a declining wild bee population or offer an alternative. “We have found a way to fill a gap,” he pointed out.

“Bees are a non-native species from Europe and Asia. They arrived with the Vikings and the native crops here now have a symbiotic relationship with the bees and wouldn’t have developed as much without them.” Wolf predicts in the next 20 years most growers will be using a pollination service because “we guarantee delivery; you are ordering rather than hoping.”

For details about Koppert Biological Systems, call 800-928-8827, log onto www.koppertonline.com or email AskThe Expert@koppertline.com