2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) Establish a suitable stocking density of blue orchard bees to optimize nut production and bee production in commercial almonds in California. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Nesting blue orchard bees will be established in replicated field cages in an almond orchard, to compare with honey bees foraging freely at neighboring trees outside each cage. Measures to be compared will include bee densities, bloom production, nut production and reproductive success of the blue orchard bees. 3.Progress Report This report documents research conducted under a Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement between ARS and the AgPollen, L.L.C. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the in-house associated project 5428-21000-010-00D: Pollinating- Insect Biology, Management, and Systematics Research. The blue orchard bee (BOB) presents an attractive supplemental or alternative pollinator for almonds. Sustaining BOBs in commercial almonds may require ways to extend or supplement their foraging season both pre- and post-bloom, using suitable flowering crops. These BOB populations may also need to be supplemented in some years by "ranching" the bees off-site with early flowering annuals. Of the six early flowering annuals tried, BOBs nesting in our greenhouse strongly preferred provisioning nest cells with Collinsia heterophylla pollen. They also frequently visited flowers of Nemophila maculata and Phacelia tanacetifolia for nectar, as well as C. heterophylla and P. campanularia. They ignored canola. Nectar production and pollen production was quantified for all species. Early blooms produced more pollen. Lifetime bloom production per plant ranked N. maculata> C. heterophylla> N. menziesii; flower production per unit area is being calculated and carrying capacity for the blue orchard bee will be calculated in time for the December meeting. Our greenhouse bees produced approximately 315 viable offspring from 64 California female parents, or a 5-fold increase. With our years of trap-nesting experience, we were able to obtain 1326 males and 847 females from 673 wild nests of BOBs in valley and foothill habitats around the Central Valley, whose potentially superior climatic adaptation for pollinating almonds will be evaluated in 2008. ADODR monitoring activities included phone calls and e-mails.